Children of the Sky
by Zero Storm
Summary: Aeternitas is in a civil war between the Saviors and the Rogues. After having nightmares of an enigmatic boy, Lucian finds out he's involved in something far greater than his boring life at school. Original Story.
1. Chapter 1

**CHAPTER 1**

"_**Aeternitas: A colorful and vibrant nation filled with its own marvelous grandeurs and clandestine chronicles. Here, magic and technology coincide harmoniously. Nevertheless, it is but a utopia within its mystifying shadows."**_

"_**Caelum: The capital of Aeternitas and one of the central cities of commerce."**_

A stray wolf caked with mud – possibly a lost omega from its pack – sniffed the pavestones of an alleyway. Its paws felt every nook and crack between the slabs of limestone. The poor thing had unintentionally bumped into shoes of various sorts: sneakers, sandals, boots, stilettos, formal attire, among others. And whenever the wolf did, it would occasionally glance up to see the shoes' owner: some would give the poor wolf a look or two, while others wouldn't even acknowledge it. Panting, the lone wolf traversed the long alleyway filled with tall stone buildings. Eventually, the wolf crossed into the plaza square where countless citizens swarmed, going through their daily routine without even taking a minute hiatus. The wolf settled itself in the shade by a local shop, staring at a cloudless sky. As it was about to curl up to sleep, the wolf's ears perked, listening to a distant thunder. It soon sat up to a breathtaking sight of a magnificent airship sailing across the azure above. The plaza's denizens took no notice. Soon, the wolf's sight was eclipsed by a cloaked boy.

"Hey. Mister Wolf," the boy almost frightened the poor thing. "Whoops! Sorry. Come here, boy!"

He held out his hand. The wolf remained reluctant.

The boy assured, "I won't hurt you."

The wolf studied this newcomer, concluding that there was something odd about the boy. It picked up on traces of a lupine scent – this boy wasn't just a mere human, the wolf concluded. After a moment of indecision, the wolf decided to at least have his snout touch this foreign hand. The boy crouched down and began petting the wolf.

"There you go," the cloaked boy crooned. "Hmm, it seems we're not entirely different, you and I."

Something black slightly peeked out the back of the boy's cloak, like a tail. Soon, an irritated masculine voice called out the boy's name.

"Oops," the boy chuckled. "I got to go, Mister Wolf. See you later!"

The boy sprung up and ran across the plaza. The wolf's curious eyes followed until the cloaked one was well out of its sight. Eventually, the wolf curled up into a ball and peacefully dozed off into a deep sleep.

"_**The Celestial Order: A regime that governs Aeternitas."**_

A pristine airship danced in the sky, cutting through the clouds. Behind the clouds, a great city magically suspended in the air presented itself. The airship simply entered into one of the docking bays of this floating town.

"_**Unfortunately, Aeternitas has been riddled with skirmishes of late between the Saviors and the Rogues."**_

A barricade stood at the center of an abandoned and dilapidated street. Bullets flew across the area; some chipped away at old corpses, others had found solace in a new body, and those which have gone to waste. Pathetic magic spells chaotically whizzed about.

"_**The Saviors: Those who humbly serve under the Celestial Order for the greater good of Aeternitas."**_

A Savior with cropped hair patiently reloaded his machine gun within the shelter of the barricade. He stared at his fallen comrade. The way the cadaver's eyes remained unclosed after death disturbed him. The man scurried to the corpse to close his eyes. The man never really took note at the elaborate Savior uniform. It's navy and black color scheme was now encrusted with dirt and dry blood. It had a Victorian flair to it. The small, black half-cape was now shamefully torn to shreds. But now was not the time to appreciate fashion. The man got up and took aim once again.

"_**The Rogues: A religious cult-like rebellion which seeks to change Aeternitas to suit their personal deity."**_

On the other side, the Rogues seemed emotionless in their modernized medieval suits of armor. They relentlessly attacked the Saviors with their magic and bullets; primal, bestial, showing no fear. Bullet-ridden helmets rolled across the dirt. Some had the sense to pull apart the barricade that separated the two. A man with distinct facial hair and a shaven head decided to take off his helmet, unhook a grenade, place it in there, and throw his helmet over the barricade. An explosion followed with rubble flying everywhere. Ironically, a shard of glass sliced the man's temple. He soon emptied a magazine on a few Saviors.

"_**Mystical Guardians: The essential leaders of the Saviors and the 1**__**st**__** soldiers-in-command under the Celestial Order. They carry out the Order's wishes in Aeternitas' underground."**_

"_**Marauders: The leaders of the Rogues, who adopted the name the Heroes of lore once called themselves."**_

"_**Sanctum Liberi: Mortals fated for a greater purpose."**_

Crimson birds soared throughout the vast civilization. A maze of freeways stretched across the lands. Skyscrapers sliced into the sky, complete with wide windows and cemented bricks. Crowds of people old and young swarmed the sidewalks. Moving metal contraptions, known as automobiles, lined up and crowded the streets in an organized chaos.

Two friends vacationed on top of an academy building, overlooking the lush plains. A carefree spirit was sitting on the ledge, letting his legs dangle in midair. Youthful and energetic, he was a truly innocent boy of about fifteen years. His bright azure eyes gazed at the horizon in a trance. His smooth, neck-length, black hair was covered by a knitted cap. He had a long and open charcoal overcoat, revealing a cobalt t-shirt underneath. His faded black jeans and classic Converses completed his look.

Leaning against a wall, was a rather pensive boy—a year older than the ball of energy he was watching with half-intent. His emerald eyes had a mile long stare, focusing on nothing of interest. His hair was white as the icy snow. The front of his hairstyle was somewhat long, covering his forehead and stopping just before his eyes. The hair on the back of his head however, was wildly spiked in different directions. His fingers traced the stitching on his blue, denim jeans. His feet were encased in canvas Converse sneakers as well. With a white jacket delicately covering it, a dark grey t-shirt clung to his body. "Hey Zane," he broke the silence.

The happy-go-lucky friend responded with a heart-warming smile, "Yeah, Lucian?"

"Have you ever wondered about all the secrets of the world?"

Zane chuckled. That alone was all the agreement Lucian would need. The two had a close and strong friendship and had been the best of friends for as long as they could remember.

In a moment's notice, a girl of the same with flowing auburn hair joined them. Her knee-high Converses caressed the concrete rooftops. A light blue shirt with a designer name stitched onto it was underneath an open, light gray blouse. Her ripped jeans hugged her legs. With oceanic eyes, she contacted Lucian and Zane.

"Faith," the boy at the edge of the building acknowledged.

"I thought I'd find you two up here," she smiled.

After a while, the sun fell and the clouds thickened above.

"_**Somnium: A small ocean-side city where a story begins."**_

Giant plasma screens illuminated the seemingly empty city square. Thousands of teardrops fell from the starless sky, flooding the district. Two pairs of boots waded in the shallow waters; a duo of cloaked men, one slightly older than the other, appeared. They scanned the dark alleyways at the outskirts of the square. With a sigh, the taller, older one drew out and lit a cigarette. Growing bored, the cloaked, young one became fixated on whatever was on the big screens. Soon, the distant sound of marching made itself known. Silver suits of armor emerged at the perimeter of the plaza.

The older man dropped and stepped on his cigarette, "Rogues." He grimaced in the shadows of his cloak's hood. With a wave of his hand, scattered metal parts appeared suspended in midair in an aura of darkness. Like a puzzle, the metal pieces assembled themselves into two revolvers and magnetized towards the figure's hands.

The younger one chuckled and held out his hand; a scythe materializing in his grasp. "What else did you expect?"

Several Rogues murmured to each other.

"You two must be part of the Mystical Guardians." A rather decorated Rogue decided to reveal himself.

The young figure responded, "What of it?"

"You truly are the scum of Aeternitas, cowardly hiding behind the Celestial Order. The Rogues will not dare leave you to see another day. The Mystical Guardians and the Celestial Order will be slaughtered, every single one of them. No one will be spared. It's time for a new order. An order—"

The ringing sound of a gunshot sliced through the air. The Rogue commander collapsed in the flooded waters.

"I'm sorry," the elder figure grinned. "I hate the assholes like you who talk too much. I really do. So, is there anyone else who's not a damn coward?"

Another suit of armor with a sword in his hand ran through the waters, yelling. Bullets tore through armor and plunged into his body. Coughing, the Rogue's blood dripped into the rain water and he soon toppled over. Another Rogue sloshed through the flood coming from behind the elder figure. The younger Guardian swiftly stepped in front of him, "I got your back."

"Good."

Blood showered when the younger one's scythe carved the Rogue in half. "Sorry, Rogue. You were asking for it."

Waves and waves of Rogues closed in and surrounded the two Mystical Guardians, forcing them back to back. Bullets and blades soared across the area. More and more Rogue bodies fell, spilling blood.

"This is boring," the younger boy moaned. "Let's switch it up."

He tossed his scythe in the air. The elder Guardian held his revolvers near the youngster's waist. The young one snatched the guns while the elder one caught the scythe; a clean trade. With guns, the youngster easily picked off Rogues; fast and accurate. The other one was secretly enjoying the bloodbath the scythe came with. The transparent waters were slowly turning a dark crimson.

"Hey," the elder said.

"What is it?"

"You know, I don't understand why they would choose to invade Somnium."

"It beats me."

Just then, a multitude of magic spells flew across the air. A couple incantations struck the two, much to their surprise.

"How fun," the young Guardian coldly said. "They brought spell casters with them."

"Crap," the taller man winced.

"No worries," the young one chuckled. "Watch this." He returned the elder's revolvers. The boy closed his azure eyes and held his hands out in front of him. Almost immediately, a golden aura flowed from it. A few Rogues stopped in their tracks, panicking. In a split second, the clouds parted in the sky revealing a grand crescent moon illuminating the entire square. The rain waters formed tidal waves in reaction. The boy opened his eyes; azure turned to gold. The elder man's violet eyes studied his comrade. Waves of gold unfurled across the courtyard, taking out several Rogues. It wrapped around the two Mystical Guardians, protecting them.

"Hah," the elder one's violet eyes twinkled as he placed down his comrade's scythe. A black aura formed around his hands. He threw spears of darkness at the opposing Rogues. The body count continued to rise.

"Retreat," many Rogues yelled after more of their armored friends floated in the blood-dyed water. The armored villains scattered in fear, many cursing. Some tried to drag the cadavers of their friends. After a good minute, the city square was silent again.

The tall, purple-eyed man sighed and pulled out a cigarette.

The eyes of his friend turned from golden to light blue. The boy sullenly picked up his scythe from the blood-filled waters. Remorseful, he said, "I hate fighting."

The naïve Lunar Guardian and the jaded Dark Guardian stood at the center of the plaza, silent.

"_**There is a distant light far off out of our reach... I have always wondered where it would be hidden... Sadly, no mortal being will ever know..."**_

**CHILDREN OF THE SKY**


	2. Chapter 2

**CHILDREN OF THE SKY**

**CHAPTER 2**

The void; an empty plane of existence stretched across the lands. A white-haired boy sat at the center of the complete nothingness. He studied an orb of pure light that was in his hands. With a delicate roll of his wrist, the boy had the light orbit around him much to his delight.

_"Lucian,"_ a seductive voice called to him.

The boy's wrist stopped in its tracks and his orb of light returned to him. The boy stood up, his back against the newcomer—a mysterious, dark figure watched Lucian while slouching in a throne made of crystals. His black, silver-lined pointed boots was tapping the ground beneath it, making crystals jump out. His midnight black cloak flowed in the wind. On top of his shoulders were pauldrons made of diamonds. Chains with crystal trinkets connected them. A black hood had distinctly shrouded his face.

"_You're merely powerless,"_ a voice stated slyly.

Lucian turned around to find the source of the voice, and saw the garish figure.

"_However, you're not like the others,"_ it continued. _"There's something unusual about you."_

With a snap of his fingers, the figure disappeared and the throne he left behind dispersed into crystal shards. The diamonds danced in the air, performing a strange ritual. Soon, a blinding beam of light shot out of the crystals straight towards the ground. On instinct, Lucian walked towards the light. As soon as the light faded, a pristine sword with a shining crystalline hilt was revealed. Its blade was dug into the clean white ground.

"'_Have you ever wondered about all the secrets of the world,' is that what you asked?" _The figure's smooth voice mocked, _"Why don't you find out for yourself?" _

All of the sudden, the cloaked figure emerged behind Lucian. He retreated for the sword as the figure summoned a fatal sword out of thin air. With a flick of his wrist, the shadowy figure sent it soaring towards Lucian. Lucian dodged the sword; however a trio of knives had unexpectedly plunged into his chest. Lucian dropped to his knees and his blood painted the ground. The figure skipped up to Lucian, chuckling uncontrollably. He kneeled in front of him and they both looked into each others' eyes. Lucian noticed the figure's bright green eyes and how his sinister grin played across his face. He pulled out one of his knives from Lucian's chest. Lucian yelled in agony as his blood freely flowed through the air.

"_You really are pathetic,"_ the figure stated, _"Any closer and you would be dead. And..."_ He removed the second to Lucian's painful gasp. _"...We wouldn't want that. Oh Lucian, stop your screaming. It isn't suitable for someone like you. Besides, this is a reminder that you are still alive."_ He concluded by removing the third knife. _"You will continue to suffer,"_ he added as he stood up and started to walk away,_ "until we meet again."_

Lucian spat blood into the cold ground. Desperate and shaking, he looked at the shining sword, which was beckoning him to take it. "Who… Who are you?"

"_You don't remember me?" _The figure stopped in its tracks, grimacing. _"Then allow me to jog your memory." _He turned around to find Lucian dashing towards him, dragging the blade of light. Within seconds, the rogue had cast off his cloak and then drawn his sword. Sparks flew as the two swords clashed.

Lucian's eyes widened as the figure's identity was revealed. The unknown character looked at Lucian. He had chin-length, silver hair which covered the right side of his face. His vibrant green eyes stared at Lucian's darker ones.

"_You don't know the truth, do you?"_

He then simply stepped to the side, causing Lucian to lose his balance and fall to the ground. The villain raised his sword, ready to carve into the flesh of his enemy.

Lucian rolled onto his back and blocked the oncoming sword with his. "I'm not ready to give up just yet!" Lucian pushed his opponent back with all the force he could manage. He jumped to his feet and rushed towards his counterpart, sword in hand.

A flash of light engulfed the scene. A chorus of a thousand tortured screams chanted in unison throughout the air.

Lucian's room was engulfed in a bright sunlight. The sleeping boy opened his deep green eyes and grimaced. He rubbed his hand on his forehead, and then ran his fingers through his white, spiky hair. He looked up to his digital clock; ten minutes after five. After a yawn, he sits up on a decent-sized bed under various pearl white sheets. He stares at his room. Its white walls were covered with posters. Next to the bed was a desk filled with papers that consisted of chaotic writing and elaborate doodles. A music player with large headphones was placed beside a lamp. A laptop was placed on the desk as well. A cluttered bookcase – filled with graphic novels, various charms and music and video game cases – stood at an opposite wall. Next to the bookcase was a table with a TV and various video game consoles – a wired mess. On the farthest wall was a walk-in closet. Next to it was a hall that would lead into a bathroom. Past the bathroom, at the very end of the hall, a simple door stood. Everything seemed to be in order.

Disgruntled and still drowsy, Lucian got out of his bed and headed for his closet where he produced a shirt, jeans, and undergarments. With arms filled with clothes, he dragged his feet to the bathroom. He placed his set of clothes next to the sink on a marble countertop, which stood next to the toilet. He grabbed a couple of towels from the cabinet and placed them beside it. Lucian studied his reflection in the mirror above the sink. He stared into his emerald eyes and the sleepless, dark circles around them. He then examined his pasty white skin under the fluorescent lighting. He soon gazed at his hair. He seemed content that his hair was naturally white and spiky in the back while the front was down, tamed, covering his forehead.

"_Some vivid nightmare,"_ he thought to himself. _"But what was it trying to tell me?"_

The boy sighed and turned on the shower to let the relaxing steam from the hot water fill the room and fog up the windows. Beginning to sweat, he took off his T-shirt revealing a rather simplistic and slender frame. Next, his boxers slid down his legs to his ankles, where they flicked the underwear off his feet. Lucian blushed, feeling the warm steam inviting him. He stepped into the shower. His hair's natural spikes soon wilted due to the flowing water. Leaning against the wall underneath the showerhead, he could feel every caress of water rolling down his supple body.

"_I've been having strange nightmares lately. __They were obscure; the vision hazy, the sound muffled, and everything I touched was dull. I could hardly tell what was happening then."_ He closed his eyes and lifted his head, feeling the delicate touch of water droplets on his face. _"But this one was clear as day. There was a completely blank space, crystals, a sword, and some half-crazed guy who looked almost like me. What did he want from me?"_

After some time, the relieved and satisfied boy walked out of the bathroom dragging his feet around his room, looking at its imperfections. He put his laptop, papers, and notebooks inside his messenger bag with ease until something shiny caught his eyes. He inched closer to the side of his desk and found a lanyard with a couple of keys and a few charms. Next to it was a cracked picture frame that held a faded image.

It showcased a young, bright-eyed boy with silver hair wearing a cheeky grin surrounded by what seemed to be a mother and father who looked nothing like him. The father had black Caesar hair with stubble on his cheek. He looked stern without a trace of a smile. His black eyes had a thousand yard stare while his faded wrinkles showed his aging. The mother, with worry lines, looked indeed happy in a stark contrast with her spouse. Her hazel eyes had a twinkle in them while her bronze hair was tied up into a high ponytail. However, there was a fourth figure in the picture that had always piqued Lucian's interest. A pale, curious-looking man in a decorated uniform had turned his back to the camera. But his turned head caught a glance at the couple and child with a concerned expression. His naturally platinum blonde hair was wild like a lion's mane, presumably from the wind.

Lucian grimaced and wrapped his skeletal fingers around his keys and crossed to the bookshelf to randomly pick out a graphic novel, _Chronic Crisis_ and to stuff it inside his messenger bag. With haste, he went down the hall and exited his bedroom without a second glance.

A tall and immaculate establishment obscured the almighty sun. Its ivory-colored bricks and wide windows glistened in the rays. An obelisk stood proudly at the center of an attractive courtyard. Two slabs of stone stood at either end of the idol; one read, "SOMNIUM ACADEMY" while the other marked the year of establishment. Vibrant flower gardens adorned the courtyard in its entire splendor. Wooden benches lined the pristine pavement with absolute modesty. Students crossed through the courtyard without a care in the world.

"Hey Faith," a chipper fellow in a knit hat saluted.

"Zane," an auburn-haired girl responded. "How's it going?"

"I hate this place."

The two continued to rush to their first class in the early morning, struggling through hordes of other opposing students who simply blocked their way. After travelling up a staircase and across a hall, they finally entered their noisy homeroom with exasperated sighs. Loud-mouthed adolescents snickered to each other. Meanwhile, the contrastingly silent students were reading comic books, playing video games, listening to music, or even doodling. Faith and Zane spotted Lucian in a desk next to the window on the far wall, his head buried in his arms. They maneuvered their way through the organized, yet chaotic crowd filled with testosterone-driven boys and desperate girls multilayered with only make-up.

"Don't tell me he dozed off already," Faith chuckled.

"Class hasn't even started yet," Zane joked. "That's a record."

"Rise and shine," Faith messed with Lucian's blizzard-like hair.

"Wakey-wakey," Zane cheerily added.

"I don't wanna," Lucian's muffled voice complained.

"Lucian," Faith persuaded.

Lucian groaned, "Fine." He rose with a yawn and a stretch.

Faith's face had shown traces of triumph when she sat in the desk behind Lucian. Zane took his seat next to Lucian and eavesdropped on a conversation about the latest video game about shooting tentacle monsters which left him disturbed. A bumbling teacher with thin wispy hair, a beard, horn-rimmed glasses and distinct liquor on his breath entered the classroom and wasted a good minute or two to quiet the class and take attendance. Chalk clumsily flew across the board, creating illegible scrawl. Faith produced a spiral notebook and began to draw birds in its margins. Lucian, with the cheek resting on the back of his hand, tried to clear his mind by staring outside the window into a grassy meadow and a forest behind it. Eventually, he submerged into an aura filled with boredom and disinterest. Lucian scanned around the room. He stared into the cracks and crevices in the plaster walls and counted how many times the teacher said, "Um" or "Uh". He then studied the personalities of his classmates, determining whether they were putting on a mask of façade or not. He smiled when he caught a glimpse of Zane balancing a pencil on his nose.

Lucian then resorted to looking at his textbook. He read utterly random words out of context and then put them together to make an underlying sentence that had nothing to do with the subject. Lucian flipped the page, only to see "HELP ME" frantically scribbled on the margins. He ignored this and started to look at the pictures. One was a picture of children who surrounded a campfire. Strangely, their faces were composed of happiness and excitement but their eyes were full of fear. Lucian frowned and flipped the page to read, "HELP ME" again. He flipped pages to see the same thing.

"HELP ME"

"HELP ME"

"HELP ME"

The last pages of the textbook were covered in frantic messages saying, "HELP ME". Lucian slammed his textbook and flipped through his notes. They were all saying, "HELP ME" hysterically. The chalkboard and the posters were saying the same thing. He looked at his oblivious classmates. Lucian soon felt a blistering aura from outside in the warm daylight.

Lucian's pulse doubled as he heard an ear-shattering shriek that shredded through the air.

With wide eyes, he turned his head see the sight of a raging inferno of red and orange. Outside the window, the beautiful plains and the forest behind it were set on fire...

The shriek returned, bone-splitting.

In the center of the field was the nightmarish figure wearing a perfectly twisted grin...

The sirens screeched thrice.

Lucian's emerald eyes widened. Smoke lifted and a mass grave revealed itself behind the man. The bodies of countless, innocent students were to be burned to ash...

The sirens returned, seemingly louder than ever.

Slender, leather fingers inched towards the hood...

Another symphony blared in Lucian's ears.

The sight of crimson-stained silver hair shimmered in the darkness.

The screams completed their final movement of their orchestra.

In a flash, Lucian stashed his notebook and papers away in his backpack and bolted out of the classroom.

"Lucian," Faith called after him, but he was well out of the room. She looked out the window to a normal sight of the untouched plains and the thick forests. Nothing was different; only the bell had rung, signaling the end of a class. She and Zane exchanged looks; his eyes were shocked. He too dashed out of the classroom without a word. "Zane," she yelled. "Wait up!"

Lucian dashed through the halls, cutting through the herds of students. The students were happily talking to each other while the halls around them were set aflame. The drill bells were ironically silent. He turned around the corner to find the stairway blocked off. He then decided to take refuge in a janitor's closet which was surprisingly empty.

Faith eventually caught up with Zane. "Zane, what's going on?"

The usually cheery Zane was now replaced with a graver one.

"Zane?"

Zane looked back at her, golden eyes piercing.

_"Wait a minute,"_ Faith thought. _"His eyes; they weren't golden before."_

"He went this way," he finally broke. "Follow me and hurry."

They dashed across the halls, pushing anyone out of their way. Zane, seeing Faith tripping over couple of feet, grabbed Faith's hand so she would not get lost. Amidst the blur, Faith noticed something black peeking out from the bottom of his jacket – she simply dismissed it. After a climbing a couple of steps, they randomly paused.

"This way," he repeated and made a sharp right turn, dragging Faith with him

Lucian gripped the edge of the sink to hold himself up. The walls around him were peeling apart. The ceiling's plaster tiles deteriorated, showing its bare skeleton. As he was staring into his reflection, he heard Zane opening the creaking door. His blood froze as he turned to see his friend.

"Lucian," he said, his now golden eyes piercing through Lucian's hallucinations.

"_GET OUT!" _

A pure white aura illuminated from Lucian's hands. The mirror shattered as he threw a spear of light at Zane with intense fury. Faith gasped. In an instinct, Zane took off his snow cap and jacket revealing hidden wolf ears and a tail. Faith's eyes widened right before Zane's jacket flew across her vision. Zane extended his arm and specks of golden light materialized a thin ring. It created a force field for Zane. Soon, the spear of light then evaporated from existence. The golden ring scattered into specks of light.

"It's sad isn't it?" Zane mused, "Life, as we know it, is just deception."

"Zane," Lucian's body hit the ground.

Zane's eyes turned back from golden to a light blue. He turned to Faith with his hands up and tail between his legs. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. Please, Faith... Please don't tell anyone."


	3. Chapter 3

**CHILDREN OF THE SKY**

**CHAPTER 3**

Faith's rust-colored hair curtained her face. She scanned Lucian's unconscious body and noted how he seemed serene with his eyes closed. She gulped at the sight of his bare torso was covered in dry blood with shards of mirror lodged half way inside his skin.

_"Okay Faith,"_ she kept calm, cool, and collected. _"You can do this."_

With heavy breathing, her hand inched closer to one of the shards until it punctured her index finger. She gasped quietly and continued to compose herself. A green aura crept out of her fingers.

_"That's it,"_ she eased her breathing and closed her eyes. Half memories unfolded themselves in her vision.

A newly uniformed Savior with cropped auburn hair and a beard looked back with a heartwarming smile.

After waiting years, a perky schoolgirl with red, wild hair finally asked, "Mommy, when's Daddy coming back?"

"I don't know, Faith," a stressed woman with long, curtaining brown hair answered her.

"Big sister," a four-year-old boy in paint-stained overalls, accompanied by Max – a Labrador retriever puppy – found her. "Are you okay?"

"Y-Yeah," Faith fought the stinging in her eyes. "I'm… I'm fine, Ethan."

"War sucks."

"Promise me my big sister will never cry!"

"Ethan?"

"Mom?"

"Anybody?"

"Oh God, there's fire everywhere!"

The district she once lived in was set ablaze. Faith ran across the catastrophic zone, screaming for any survivors. She caught glimpses of the dead who were being showered by debris. Her callings were interrupted by the sharp sound of a dog howling. Curious, she followed the whimpers to find Max.

"Come on, don't give up on me yet," she helped him up. The poor dog was limping so she had to resort to carrying him. "There, you're safe with me."

Together, they ventured further into ground zero. Faith coughed throughout the black smoke while clutching on to Max. She frantically searched for any signs of her family. She had trouble tolerating the image of burning bodies strewn across the sidewalks. The glass windows of nearby houses all shattered, spraying the streets with shards. Faith managed to make haste to a nearby plaza where Max barked constantly: Ethan's body was found beneath a large, decrepit statue.

"Ethan!" She ran over to him and placed Max at the boy's side. "Ethan, wake up!" She frenetically searched for any sign of life and pitifully called for help. Max morosely limped to Ethan and licked his face. "God damn it," Faith almost broke. "Is there anyone out here?" Defeated, "please Ethan… Please don't die on me."

_"Don't cry,"_ she reminded herself.

The stone statue began to wear out, its cracks intensifying. Dust and minute debris showered them. Max mustered up the power to bark at this sight, catching Faith's attention. She stifled, "W-what is it?" She looked up, eyes large and mouth agape, at the idol crumbling over her.

She clenched her teeth and cringed, _"No, not now."_

An aura of green light exploded. Ribbons of green extinguished the roaring flames around her. The statue's face stopped moments before striking Faith's head. The girl opened her eyes and gave out a small, startled scream. Panting, she looked at the statue fragments suspended in midair. Her finger reached out to the stone face and traced the contours of its eye. Her hands wrapped around its head; her jade waves caused it to simply disintegrate into a fine powder.

_"What in the—Did… Did I do this?"_

Max's barking broke Faith's stupor. Ethan was wrapped in the emerald aura like a translucent cocoon. She ran to him and checked for a pulse at an instant. Ethan's eyes opened.

The sound of a heart monitor filled a room comprised of off-white walls, a bed, chairs and a curtain. A malevolent cancer had hit Ethan hard. To Faith's relief, the disease was unrelated to her healing of him.

He gave her sister a fragile smile.

Their hands interlocked.

"Thank you, big sister."

Faith gulped, holding back tears as promised. The pulse she brought back had ceased.

"Goodbye."

A much older Faith, with Max at her side, waited beside cold metal gates. The brisk wind played with her long flowing hair. Mystical jade ribbons danced around her hand.

Rose-tinted clouds migrated across the azure sky. The warm temperatures lowered their shields to the sun's fall. The wind's whisper echoed solemnly through the summer's terrain; branches danced in euphoria. The chirping of the songbirds slowly faded into a low hum. Innocent fingers climbed between plastic window blinds and separated them apart to provide a small opening. His bright blue eyes witnessed the natural symphony cascading to night: twilight at its finest. His fingers abruptly shut the blinds; his lupine ears twitched at the sound. Zane gulped as he looked around the room. Its naked, neutral walls were untouched by light artificial. At the far side was Faith tending to Lucian. Zane's sapphire eyes caught a glimpse of the sleeping boy, his chest bare and bloody. Zane winced, grimacing.

"Zane," Faith's hands hovered over Lucian's wounds.

The lone wolf-child found some strength to get up. He shuffled his feet to Faith with his tail between his legs. He fought the stinging water in his eyes when he saw three mirror shards covered in blood. In their reflection, he saw an unaffected girl with burgundy hair and blue-green eyes. Behind her was merely a sinister silhouette using a pair of childlike eyes as a mask.

Zane frowned at the image, believing, _"Why do I feel like a monster?"_

"I want to let you know," she admitted. "I forgive you."

His ears perked, _"What?"_

"You don't have to keep blaming yourself." Faith's hand emitted a green aura. "I never want to see you sad like that."

"But what about my?—"

Her green aura ran from the tips of her fingers and into the air, forming branching streams. Faith interrupted, "Your ears and tail?" She giggled. "Well, I'm going to have to get used to that! You really shouldn't hide them. It's who you are, you know? And if you want my opinion, they make you look cute."

Zane blushed. Awkward and uncomfortable, he changed the subject, "What about you?"

"What about me?"

"The… Your…" He had trouble finding words, "Your magical wispy thing."

She giggled, "I guess I had to accept that too." She added mentally, _"Right, Ethan?"_

"Is he going to be okay?"

"Huh?" She broke out of her reminiscing about her little brother.

"Will Lucian be okay?"

"Yeah," she was sure of it.

"That's a relief." Zane returned to the blinded windows and peeked at the orange sun falling to its slumber. Putting on an overcoat and knit hat, he said, "Well, I got to get going."

"Don't tell me you're a werewolf."

"No," he chuckled. "It's a little more complicated than that."

A hand bound with leather crawled across a gritty and dusty countertop to embrace a cool glass. Sweet and tantalizing liquor was within its greedy clutches. Its twin was playing with a lit cigarette; toxicity waltzed between his fingers. There was certain gravitation in these industrial and deathly gifts. The cigarette hand ascended to reunite with its master. His cold, dry lips parted. With obsessive inhalation, the owner closed his glassy eyes: killer ecstasy. The alcohol was next to go; he slurped down the poison, clearly unaffected by the weight of its consequences. With a sigh of smoke, his windows to his dark soul opened. They were a violent violet as powerful as a blossoming flower. The glass mug came down with a thud; dust unsettled. The man glanced at a small mirror nearby, seeing his angular facial structure, sunken eyes, and his long, charcoal hair arranged in disorderly spikes. He then studied the bar's patrons until the sound of the front door opening ringed throughout the pub. A pair of scuffed sneakers shuffled their way across the dirty floors.

Another drunken man in the corner of the bar scoffed, "Who let a kid in a bar?"

The boy simply ignored the remark and continued to the back of the bar. Awkward, he scratched his head, which was covered by a black, knit hat. With light blue eyes wide, he asked, "Damien?"

With smoke on his breath, "Zane, what are you doing here?"

"We need to go."

"Why?"

"I sense a Marauder nearby."

"In Somnium?"

"Yeah,"

"Shit." Damien stood up, left a couple of bills on the counter, and swaggered out of the tavern with a drink in his hand and Zane by his side.

_"Lucian,"_ the returning ghoulish and provocative figure taunted; his voice caressing the zephyrs. _"What should I do to arouse you from your interminable slumber?" _The reverie figure was undeniably real and not just a mere phantom of Lucian's mind. He was sitting on the edge of a clock tower, leaning on a gargoyle. His bright green eyes shimmered and his silver locks violently flowed with the wind. He grimaced, _"I'm getting bored now, Light Guardian. And it seems your friends have arrived. Since you will be late, shall I entertain them mercilessly?" _He silently snickered and held his palm out; his aura forming an arcane magic circle. With murmurings of incantations, the Marauder summoned a wingless dragon that soared through the air. "Wreak havoc, Tianlong"

"Ugh, great," Damien held onto Zane for support as they travelled across a park. "Remind me to never go to a bar again."

"I have," a disgusted Zane with his eyes golden retorted, "Countless times."

The concrete pavement vibrated beneath their feet. Bestial roars resonated through the air. Zane's golden eyes widened. "You've got to be kidding me."

"Oh crap," Damien said. "What the hell was that?" Colossal reptilian claws crushed skyscrapers as it crawled across the industrial terrain. Its spiked, lizard-like tail slithered between roads, demolishing cars in its path. The beast turned around the corner and into the plaza in full sight. "No fucking way," a dark aura emanated from his hands, "A dragon?" With a clap, slim slabs of metal flew into the air with a black aurora cascading from them. The scrap metal all combined together and formed a missile launcher.

"The Marauder must've summoned it," A scythe materialized from a golden aura in front of Zane.

"Tch!" Damien spat out his cigarette, knelt and scornfully took aim, "Coward."

"Lighten up," Zane bared his sharp teeth, "This'll be fun!" With that, he charged towards the beast with his scythe glowing in his hand. He leapt off the ground, "Kyaaah!" And his blade plunged deeply into the dragon's foot. "Uh oh," Zane tried to pull out his scythe, but to no avail, "Seriously?" Zane frantically tried to get his stuck scythe out, pulling it in any direction necessary. But it wouldn't budge. He panicked, "Uh, Damien?"

"Hold on! I'm trying to get a good shot!" Damien's arms quivered and his vision was blurry. "Uh, which head do I hit?"

"God damn it, Damien!" He still attempted to loosen his jammed scythe. "Just shoot!"

"Crap," Damien winced and pulled the trigger. The concrete pavement beneath him dispersed into the air. The great recoil had sent Damien back a couple of inches. The screaming missile soared through the air. A thick cloud of smoke filled the night.

It missed!

"Shit."

_"He's hopeless when he's drunk," _Zane groaned in thought. He shoved his foot upon his scythe's handle with enough force to cause it to successfully pop out of the poor creature's foot. "Finally," He laughed triumphantly, until the beast roared and took flight. Zane desperately hung on to the draconic limb, "Whoa!" Casting his scythe away, Zane climbed up the dragon's leg. _"Don't look down." _He gasped when the wind picked up his knit cap and whirled it away into the night. His canine ears bowed in trepidation. _"Oh no, that's a long way down. Keep calm and don't panic, Zane."_ He took a deep breath and continued scaling the flying behemoth. However, when the wingless dragon spat fire erratically, a rather hysterical Zane yelped out a lace of profanities and cried, "Damien!"

Damien managed to avoid the oncoming waves of fire. "Yeah, yeah," He reloaded his weapon with his dark energy. His hazy vision began to clear up when he took aim. He gritted his teeth, _"Stop moving, you giant piece of shit." _The missile launcher fired, leaving behind a thick cloud of smoke. He got off his knee and watched the missile shred across the sky. "Zane, watch out!" He snapped his fingers and his missile divided into three offspring missiles.

Zane managed to climb on top of the dragon's spine, "What?" He gawked at the trio of rockets heading his way. With a wave of his hand, he produced a shield of a golden aura. The missiles struck the dragon directly, resulting in a vigorous explosion. The beast trembled beneath Zane's feet. He struggled to withstand shockwaves even behind his shield. His tail slipped from underneath his jacket to provide him more balance. But when the dragon started to nosedive, spiraling back to Earth, Zane lost all balance and fell off the doomed beast.

"Zane," Damien yelled, dashing madly across the plaza. His weapon disassembled into scrap metal and faded back into murky nonexistence.

Zane's jacket slipped off at such a high speed. _"Ah! No!"_ He tried so desperately to have it back in his clutches, but then he remembered Faith's uplifting remark:

"_Well, I'm going to have to get used to that! You really shouldn't hide them. It's who you are, you know?"_

Zane's eyes changed color to his innocent blue in realization. _"My jacket is just a cloak, right? I only used it for hiding and nothing more. Why should I hide? Because people would think I'm a monster? That's stupid. It's just a part of me. Lucian... Faith... Damien, maybe: If they're truly my friends, they'll accept me." _As the poor wolf boy hurdled towards the cold pavement, his azure eyes touched Damien's unclouded violet: trust. Zane closed his eyes...

And fell into Damien's arms. His ears flicked when he heard his dark savior silently chuckle. With a gasp, he opened his wide eyes. "Hey! W-What's so funny?"

"You look like a lost puppy."

"I'm not a lost puppy." Zane muttered when he stepped down, frowning. He tried to conceal a secret smile, but Damien continued to cackle. His tail gave it away. "Uh... Thanks."

"No problem."

The duo watched the overgrown, flying lizard of a dragon soar into the ground, demolishing the concrete pavement into fine rubble. Zane approached the poor summoned creature with his wide and curious eyes taking pity on the wild and serpentine ones. "Poor thing, don't you agree?"

"Yeah, sure," Damien barked impatiently. "Let's just kill it already and find the Marauder that summoned it."

"You kill it."

"Fine, suit yourself," Damien pulled his revolver out of thin air.

Zane winced at the sound of a fleeing bullet.

"Let's go, Zane."

Zane found himself alone, in front of a disintegrating beast. He watched the dragon's scales peel off from the body and float majestically into the sky. It was not long before the entire creature shattered into millions of crystals and soared elegantly into oblivion. With his ears and tail in a melancholic state, Zane sighed, "Coming."

"_Shall I entertain them mercilessly?"_

Lucian woke up in a cold sweat to a dark room, eyes wide._ "He's real."_ He sat up on a leather couch and winced at a sudden, unyielding pain coming from underneath a foreign blue shirt. He stretched the cotton fabric to glimpse at several scars etched into his naked chest, _"Ah, great." _The memories of Zane's abnormal appearance and of a strange magic raced into his mind. With a deep breath, he stood up and let his forest eyes scan the night-painted room. An elderly Labrador retriever was found, sleeping in the nearby corner. The shimmering dog tag that was clipped on to its collar had read, "MAX". Lucian let out a sigh of relief; he was in Faith's house. He carefully left the room without disturbing the snoozing dog. He inched his way across the hallway and turned the corner to a living room. There was a very bored-looking Faith lounging in a black leather couch with a remote in her grasp, flipping through channels. Lucian reluctantly began, "Faith?"

"About time you woke up," Faith said. "God, there's nothing on TV. Come on in! Sit down!"

Lucian did so and cautiously asked, "What's going on?"

"I'm sorry?"

"How am I here? The last thing I remembered was—"

"Zane?"

"Yeah, how'd you know?"

"You two weren't the only ones there, you know."

"But that doesn't explain the—"

"You're clueless," Faith sighed. "I guess it can't be helped. Listen, I'm not sure what happened, but I think Zane has an idea. I didn't know if whether you were scared or pissed off, but he explained that something happened to you when you went… you know, berserk."

"Berserk?" Lucian tried to defend himself. "T-The entire school was set on fire! People were dying!"

"You were hallucinating," Faith bluntly put it. "But Zane thought differently. Zane thought you had a premonition."

"A premonition?"

"Whatever it was, it set you on edge. Zane and I were worried and we had to follow you. And when we did… you attacked Zane."

"I don't get it. Why would I attack him?"

"You couldn't help it," Faith comforted him. "Zane said, 'Your powers had awakened.'"

"Powers?"

"Magical powers of light," Faith continued. "He went on saying how your hallucination—or premonition—was a form of initiation."

"So you're expecting me to believe in a thing called magic?"

"It's weird, huh?" Faith wondered, "You can think of life and what is normal in a totally different sense than what it actually is. You've got to keep living in order to know the truth."

"_Life as we know it is just deception."_ Zane's words echoed in Lucian's mind. The image of Zane with his ears and tail had burned into his memory. If there was a shred of magical reality—an inch of truth—in Lucian's life, it was this. He was forced to ask, "What about Zane?"

"What about him?"

"His… you know." Lucian awkwardly cupped his ears. "Are they real?"

"I think they are," Faith said. "But you'll have to talk to Zane about that!"

"Why?"

"He's just nervous about what you'll think. He just wants acceptance."

"We've been friends since God knows how long. Why couldn't he tell me that he's a wolf-boy before?

"Maybe he was ashamed of that! I don't know!" Faith got up, "Listen Lucian, I'm not a miracle worker. Okay? What I do know is that something's going on and we have to get ready for it whether we like it or not."

"Wait a minute."

"What now?"

"How did I get here?"

"Oh yeah, forgot about that," Faith chuckled. "When you passed out, Zane and I just took you here."

"You didn't take me to the hospital or anything?"

"Nope."

"Why not? Wasn't I bleeding everywhere?"

"Yeah, and it took me a great deal of time just to clean that up!"

"But how—"

"I healed you."

Lucian's eyes widened, "You _what?_"

"You heard me," she grinned. "I healed you."

"No way," Lucian stood and winced. His scars stung him. "T-That's impossible!"

"God, Lucian, you can be such an idiot sometimes." With that, Faith took hold of Lucian's hands.

His forest eyes peered into her oceanic ones as the magical jade ribbons elegantly danced around the room.

"So," Damien lit another cigarette. "The Light Guardian revealed himself, huh?"

"Yeah," Zane said. "His name is Lucian."

"He's a close friend of yours?"

"Gosh, ever since I could remember."


	4. Chapter 4

**CHILDREN OF THE SKY**

**CHAPTER 4**

A chorus of divine spirits harmoniously whispered in the wind. There was a giant hall decorated with white walls and white pillars, its tiles were checkered with white and gray. A gleaming sword with a crystalline hilt was leaning on a throne made entirely out of crystals. On that throne was a sleeping boy, delicately dressed in a pure white suit. His messy white hair perfectly framed his young face. Above the throne, sunlight was bleeding through the cracks of the ceiling. And from those crevices, a black butterfly peacefully entered and fluttered around. The boy's eyes twitched and eventually he opened his green eyes. He slowly sat up as he captured the butterfly in his sight. Then he peered over the throne's armrest at his sword. His attention returned to the butterfly's black wings slowly flying away. Instinctively, the boy grasped the sword's handle and followed the butterfly. A giant set of doors were in sight and soon, the boy heard a disturbing edition of a familiar sonata. He opened the door and found a foyer opening up in front of him. There was a strange, silver haired pianist of the same age as the boy dressed in a black suit who continuously played.

"Lucian," the pianist finally stopped. "It's a pleasure having you join me."

"Thank you," the boy said.

The pianist sighed, "Did you know that you have visitors? They're waiting outside."

Lucian walked towards the entrance doors. He glanced back at the pianist who motioned him to proceed. He tried to make out the pianist's face but shadows simply sheltered it. Reluctantly, the white-haired boy pushed open the doors to a majestic walkway lined with cherry blossom trees. Underneath the nearest tree were two recognizable people. Faith knelt in the shade with Zane's sleeping head resting on her lap. As Lucian made his way down the front steps, the mansion behind him disintegrated into crystals that rained upwards into the clouds.

"Faith!"

The melodies of the birds echoed throughout the bright skies. As Lucian made his way towards his friends, a shrieking cackle shredded through the air. The pink blooming petals of the trees blew away with the strong burst of wind. The trees quickly shriveled up and died out and the image of Faith and Zane crumbled into crystallized pieces. An earthquake rumbled beneath the boy's feet and soon, mirrors emerged from the ground and formed a strange labyrinth. The boy's pulse raced as he called out the names of his friends. The maniacal laughter continued. For hours, he tried to find his way out of the maze, but it seemed to be to no avail.

_"Lucian,"_ a boyishly seductive tone echoed.

The boy stopped dead in his tracks. He looked around for the source of the voice, but only saw his reflection. Cautiously, he turned around the corner to find a staircase made of hanging mirrors. Without looking back at his crumbling trail, Lucian climbed the mirror staircase. Meanwhile, the maze behind him warped and twisted and curved until they all shattered. As he continued up the staircase, the steps behind him disintegrated.

_"Lucian, why can't you remember me?"_

Lucian arrived at a vast, open room bordered with mirrors that continued the theme established by the maze. There was an ominously familiar boy in a black suit that was simply standing in the middle of the ballroom. His twisted grin could treacherously seduce even the most unwavering soul. When Lucian inched closer to him, the boy simply bowed.

"It's a pleasure to meet you again," he chuckled darkly.

A surge of emotions swelled up inside Lucian. Hatred's fire fueled him. Fear made him hesitate. Confusion questioned his senses. However, he just clenched onto the crystalline handle and guided his blade. He charged at the nightmarish figure, his shining blade in hand. With a smug grin, the boy pulled out a feudal katana and blocked Lucian's oncoming attack. Lucian's blade rebounded. Again, he drove his force again at his pretentious opponent. To no avail, it was blocked again. Again and again, Lucian's different attacks against the sinister boy got him nowhere. Lucian's enemy sighed in frustration and deflected another oncoming slash. He then simply smacked Lucian's face into the ground.

"You have a nascent mind," the silver-haired boy dressed in black pointed his sword at Lucian on the cold ground. "I admire your determination, but please stop degrading yourself. You need to strategize and think. Know the mind and souls of yourself and your enemies. Otherwise, you'll lose the game." He started to retreat, laughing. "You don't even know my name!"

"Your name," Lucian repeated, baffled.

"You can't remember," His footsteps stopped. His grin twisted more and more. His green eyes glowed from beneath his thick, silver bangs. He turned around, "Maybe I should engrave it into your head."

Lucian stumbled onto his feet. He grabbed his sword of light and charged at the silver-haired menace. All faded to white and thousands of unique voices all in disarray flooded the air.

The sweet smell of spring air flowed into his nose.

Faith's voice called, "Wake up!"

Lucian opened his eyes to a crowded classroom and groaned, "Not now..."

A trio of cloaked figures emerged on the vast hills overlooking the school. Their black, knee-high, pointed boots lined with silver crushed the grass beneath them. The slender black pants they wore tucked in their boots, were layered with several belts. Their midnight black cloaks flowed in the wind. Like their boots, the pockets and edges of the cloaks were lined with silver as well. On top of their shoulders were pauldrons made of diamonds. Chains with crystal trinkets connected them. Black hoods had distinctly shrouded their faces.

"Somnium Academy," a melodic androgynous voice began.

"Are you sure he's here?" Another genderless voice with a slightly higher pitch asked.

"Yeah," the velvet and seductive voice answered. "Lucian's in there. I can simply sense it."

A charcoal gray car speeds across the highways of Somnium, leaving debris flying in any direction possible. Cars, trees, lights, and grand establishments flash by. A pair of violet eyes studied the roads. His mind was deep in thought as he inhaled the mesmerizing nicotine.

_"Marauders? Why would they be here?" _He glanced over at Zane in the passenger seat, gazing blankly out the window. _"If his power had truly been awakened, then the Light Guardian would be able to defend himself… at least until Zane and I arrive. But things aren't lining up. Why are the Marauders after him? How did they know about him? Is this linked to something the Mystical Guardians don't know about? Or is it about the Celestial Order? But why would the Celestial Order give commands to the Marauders? Maybe I'm thinking too much. But I know one thing for sure. There's something mysterious about that 'Lucian' kid." _

The smoker's gray car continued to zoom across the roads.

The air was thick whiles shrieking teenagers crowded the claustrophobic halls, rushing to their next class. There was a strong smell of cigarettes coming from the bathrooms at the end of the hall. The corners were lined with paper and broken pencils and the slate gray lockers had a couple of dents in them. All, however, looked completely normal. Lucian and Faith chatted further as they trudged their way to their next class.

Lucian looked at Faith's long, flowing, reddish-brown hair. He noticed her confident smile. He wondered if their last meeting had little effect on her. He sheepishly gulped, "Sorry about what happened yesterday."

Sapphire meets emerald. Eye contact is a wondrous, but small dance of natural interaction. Faith's eyes illuminated as she looked into Lucian's core essence. With a warm smile, she reassured, "Don't worry about it. It's okay."

_"Okay?" _Lucian wasn't convinced.

In a second, Faith's inviting smile turned into a concerned look. She awkwardly changed the subject, "Is it me or is our English teacher an obsessive drunkard?"

They both laughed.

Without warning, chaos broke out swiftly and mercilessly. Shrill cries echoed throughout the crowds. Scarlet splattered on the lockers. Students made an effort to escape into the classrooms, however there were those who had no avail only to be brutally slaughtered.

Faith's eyes widened, "What's happening?"

A few teachers rushed, holding makeshift weapons. One of them, carrying a fire extinguisher grunted, "Get out of here!"

Lucian and Faith both caught a glimpse of the horrific monster. It was half the size of a human being. It looked like a hyena, whose fur was shielded in blood-stained scales. Its tail split into three, having sharp metal tips on each end. It lacked a bottom jaw, letting its tongue dangle freely. Its large claws were serrated like knives, digging into the flesh and tile floor. A note-worthy feature on the abomination was that it wore a chain of rusted plaques with human faces stretched over them. The fiend wore one of them as a mask.

Eyes widened in shock, Lucian covered his mouth. _"What the hell is that?" _

The hyena-like thing slashed several useless faculty members to shreds, letting the smell of flesh invigorate its senses; seductive bloodlust. The face on the one plaque that masked the monster opened its eyes. The pupils schizophrenically darted about. The three tails whipped around dramatically. The hyena sensed a newcomer in its territory. The hideous monster hissed, standing his ground. Lucian picked up the fire extinguisher used by one of the teachers that had rolled to his feet. Trembling, he pointed the nozzle at the hyena.

"Lucian!" Faith tried to pull him away. "What're you doing? You're going to get murdered!"

Before the creature could attack Lucian, an ominous figure in a cloak appeared. It calmed the beast, darkly chuckling, "My, oh my. Look what my precious Kaftar did to this place. Blood _does _look good on the walls. Brings some color to something this tedious and boring. But _he_ said, 'killing people is not necessary.' Oh well! Accidents happen. Blood spills. Life goes on."

Lucian didn't let his guard down, "Who are you?"

"I'm Kora." The cloaked figure stood up and pulled back its hood, revealing a surprisingly androgynous face. The contours of its face were smooth and round. Its full lips shined and its skin was flawless. The eyelashes were long and thick which framed its delicate and soft eyes. Its neck-length, brunette hair flowed, like waves. The hair was parted in the middle, however there was a thin, long lock of hair that ran down the center of the face, curved up at the cheekbone, and was tucked behind the ear.

Lucian and Faith, dumbstruck, "Are you a boy or a girl?"

Kora smiled, "What? You can't tell? Hmph," She (for the sake of avoiding any confusion on unknown gender) pointed an index finger at Lucian. "You, white haired boy... You must be Lucian."

His expression tense, Lucian readied the fire extinguisher at Kora. "What if I am?"

"How can you not be Lucian?" Kora argued. "You obviously fit the bill perfectly!" She then noticed Faith. "And who's this?"

She coldly introduced herself.

Kora delightfully continued, "Great! Now that we all know each other, would you be so kind to lower that there fire extinguisher? It's making me nervous."

"Hey!" A playful tone of voice echoed throughout the halls. "You're keeping me out of the fun!"

Kora's eyes widened when she saw a gust of golden energy whiz past Lucian and Faith's heads. In a flash, Kora summoned an intriguing weapon. The weapon held the shape of a large, stylized ring with sharp edges and blades jutting out at angles. A handle was set on the diameter of the ring. Using this chakram weapon, Kora deflected the wave of energy.

Surprised, Lucian and Faith looked behind them to see Zane with a cheeky smile at the end of the hallway. They noticed that he did not wear his hat and coat, having his ears and tail shown. He also had his glistening scythe ready in hand.

"Hi!" He waved to Lucian and Faith, tail wagging.

"_Tch! Wolf boy,"_ Kora grunted.

Zane instructed, "You two have to get out of here, okay?"

Lucian reluctantly trusted him, "Y-Yeah."

When the two fled, Kora chuckled and whispered to her summoned hyena monster, "Seize them, Kaftar." With that, the atrocity evaporated without a trace. "So," she continued with a snarky smile. "What's a filthy Guardian doing here?"

"Huh? What was that? I didn't hear you!" Zane deviously mocked, "Are you a boy or a girl? I can't tell!"

Kora flared her nostrils and grinded her teeth, "Don't test my patience!"

Zane simply smiled as his eyes changed from light blue to yellow_, "Hmph. A few Marauders are here already. This'll be fun."_

The irritated Kora dashed across the hall, stepping on cadavers and puddles of deep red. The chakram in the rogue's grasp twirled about, slicing the air.

Bearing his sharp teeth, Zane readied his scythe. His shimmering smile faded to a grimace when he witnessed Kora lunging towards him, chakram in hand. He took a few steps backwards, keeping his distance from his opponent. He blocked the oncoming strikes with the metal handle of his scythe. Zane winced at the sparks flying across the air. With a flick of his wrist, he twirled his scythe and parried another wave of Kora's attacks with the edge of the sickle. Afterwards, Zane slashed at Kora only to carve the air instead. He waved his hand in the air and fired bursts of golden lunar energy.

Kora chuckled as she deflected Zane's lunar energy with the chakram, "Is that all you got, wolf boy?" At that moment, Kora was invited by another onslaught of lunar energy blasts. The genderless one deflected some of the first flares successfully, but soon got hit when she lost momentum. Kora snickered as she split apart her chakram. Chains inched out of the separated handle. The circle blade severed apart into semicircles, still bonded to the handle. Kora's chakram became a chain scythe. Kora dashed towards Zane, whirling her new weapon in the air.

Zane maneuvered his scythe to block the two flying blades. His eyes widened before he felt a rough high heel forced up upon his jaw.

Faith hastily dashed through the gruesome school halls. "Lucian, keep up!"

The two turned the corner to find nothing but absolute scarlet. Another monster with razor teeth was feasting on the flesh of a student. Its slimy tongue viscerally wrapped around the intestines that spilled out from the corpse. The boy's ghoulishly pale face was covered in crimson and black. His eyes were nowhere to be seen. And still, one could hear the faint gasps from the butchered boy.

Faith prevented Lucian from yelling in terror with a cover of a mouth. "There's nothing you can do. Come on!" She dragged him away.

Lucian followed Faith and occasionally stumbled upon a body or two. The soles of their shoes became painted with blood. It seemed that every room or hall they passed held a horrifying and grotesque display.

"This… this is just a nightmare." Lucian said, panting. Faith stopped in her tracks and her eyes went livid. Lucian continued, "I'll… just wake up, right?"

"Get a hold of yourself!" She smacked him across the face. "This is real!"

Shocked and speechless, Lucian's eyes widened.

In a flash, Kora's summoned creature, Kaftar appeared from around the corner, trampling over blood-spattered corpses.

"Crap!" Faith shoved Lucian out of the way. Magical jade ribbons exploded from her wrist and out into the air. They twirled about, creating a rapier with an elegant silver hilt. It floated until Faith's slender hand grasped at its handle. She brandished her new weapon and took to a defensive pose, "Stand back!"

Kaftar cackled while the chain of faces it wore began revolving vehemently around its body.

"Where's Lucian?" A pair of high heeled boots danced across the dusty hardwood floors of a gymnasium. A delicate hand playfully twirled a chakram about. This figure robed in black was Kora's twin, albeit with a couple minute differences. The androgynous face seemed a tad more structured compared to the sibling's. This one's brown hair was longer, wilder and its long fringes were unkempt. The eyes and lips were fierce, serpentine and sinuous.

"What the hell are you?" A tanned young man with cropped hair asked from a distance. "Are you a girl or a guy?"

The Marauder stopped dead in its tracks and scanned the hostages who were all bound in chains against the walls. He (again, to avoid gender confusion) pinpointed the tanned teenager who had the audacity to mock him, "You."

"Yeah, me," The idiot decided to continue. "I can't tell who the fuck you are."

The Marauder's eyes narrowed. He flourished his chakram, disassembling it into a chain scythe. A magic circle was crudely carved into the wooden floor panels. "Vilanu," he called, "Dinner."

The floor boards warped and shattered at once. And from the ground beneath it, crawled another hideous creature. It was reptilian, similar to a komodo dragon. It wore on its back, a rusted plate with a face stretched over it, similar to the ones that Kaftar adorned. The creature had no eyes; only rusty nails jutted out from cobwebbed eye sockets. Vilanu's mouth shredded open into a crooked Glasgow grin. The chasm was filled with needle-like teeth that soon separated, revealing a slithering, black tongue. It snaked its way to its prey when dozens of erratic eyes opened on its slimy surface.

The captives shrieked in terror as the abomination inched closer.

A deafening gunshot rang throughout the air, striking the monster into the bleachers. A pair of heavy footsteps echoed in the gymnasium. Damien disposed of his cigarette and coughed, "Damn. You're one ugly motherfucker."

"A Guardian," the Marauder began, "Figures."

He reloaded his shotgun, "Cut the crap."

"Hmph. Vilanu, attack!"

The monstrosity returned from the crushed bleachers, vengeful and hell-bent on mauling Damien.

"Shit," Damien held his distance from the beast and eyed the fluorescent lights hanging from the ceiling. The two circled each other until Vilanu eventually leaped at him. At an instant, Damien dodged the thing and strategically shot out all the hanging lights. Frenetic screams echoed throughout the darkness. The gunman's eyes blazed with a piercing violet and with an impish leer; he fired an onslaught of dark-infused bullets upon the behemoth.

Vilanu roared in retaliation and charged at Damien, offering fatal strikes. Blood flew.

The villain cackled, hysterical and mocking.

"Fuck," Damien winced, clutching onto his chest. "God… damn it." His shotgun reconstructed into an assault rifle. With a yell, he took aim and unleashed another tempest of bullets. The cacophony of battering bullets and their shells hitting the floor echoed in his ears.

Bullets were lodged into the monster's hide. Vilanu let out a gargling screech, causing forceful whirlwinds to deflect any more oncoming dark ammo. Stray bullets completely butchered a few unfortunate hostages. Damien grunted and shielded himself from the wild bullets with a barrier of darkness.

"This so much fun," the Marauder skipped to his ravenous summon. "It's like a bloody carnival!" He bellowed an ear-splitting laugh. He slowly pulled out the dozens of long nails from Vilanu's eye sockets and threw them at Damien.

Damien's eyes widened. He grumbled and casted waves of darkness from thin air to vanquish the soaring metal stakes.

"Ugh!" The Marauder roared. "You're no fun!" He jumped in the air with his chain scythe flowing around him.

Vilanu produced its eye-covered tongue from its unhinged jaws.

Damien split his rifle into two semi-automatic handguns. "Get the fuck out."

Dark hellfire…

With a screech, Vilanu submerged into the ground, defeated.

The Marauder coughed, "Damn you, Guardian." With a yell, he returned with another daring strike from his chain scythe.

Damien dodged with a smoky sneer.

"Shit," the floorboards split beneath them. Wooden chips and rubble scattered in the air. The Marauder tried to regain his composure. "I don't think I've ever introduced myself."

"You'd really think I'd give a fuck?"

"Now, now, that's no way to be polite," he chided. "My name is Roka. What's yours?"

"Damien," he spat. "Now go fuck yourself."

"Hmph," Roka flourished his chain scythe back into a chakram. His dagger heels struck the splintered floors as he dashed towards Damien.

With a scowl, the Dark Guardian dodged the razor sharp ring with a couple of steps. Annoyed and teeth bared, he caught grasp of Roka's chakram. "Get over here!" His palms bled when forced Roka towards him. He pressed his gun's metal barrel against Roka's face and fired.

Roka stumbled back with a broken jaw and half of his face drenched in blood.

Damien drew another cigarette.

Roka snapped his jaw back into place. "I'll play with you later." He disappeared.

"God damn coward," Damien scorned and walked over to the tied up hostages. With a pocket knife, he freed the students and staff. "Go. Get the fuck out of here… now."

"Whoa!" Zane quickly deflected Kora's attacks with his scythe. "Hey, you're good!"

"Shut up and drop dead, stupid mutt," Kora persisted.

Zane retorted, "Again with the name calling?" He followed through with a furious lunar strike. Starry specks scattered through the air. The blunt force demolished nearby lockers while Kora sailed through the air and into the ground. _"Are we done yet? This one just won't give up."_ Zane sighed and thought to himself. His scythe vanished while he turned to walk away, _"I need to get Lucian and Faith to safety."_

Kora stumbled back up and spat blood, "Son of a bitch!" She recombined her chain scythe back into its chakram form.

Zane's lupine ears twitched. His eyes widened, twisted with emotion.

Kora threw the chakram, cruelly carving into the back of Zane's legs. She laughed hysterically when she watched Zane fall to the ground, screaming in pain. "Pathetic," she cackled as she limped over to him. "You're… a useless… fucking… puppy!"

"I… am not… useless," Zane panted. "I am not… a puppy."

"Oh?" Kora drove her chakram deeper in Zane's wound. He gasped in agony. Blood trickled down his leg, forming a small pool. "You're not a puppy, eh?" Kora's stiletto forced Zane's head to the dirty floors. She chuckled, "Then what's this?" Her fingers wrapped around Zane's free tail and clenched it tight.

"N-No!" He gasped.

"How can you be human with this tacky thing?" She forcefully pulled on his tail.

"Gyaaaaaaugh!" He cried at the brutal pain at the base of his tailbone. "S-S-Stop," He pleaded while he coughed up blood and became paralyzed. "H-H-Help…"

Kora grinned and produced a switchblade. "I'm so going to enjoy this, you sad piece of shit." She started to sever his tail.

Zane's screaming shot up an octave. His legs scrambled. His tail twitched violently. His vision became blurry. Blood was everywhere.

"Hey!" A callous voice echoed through the hallway. A pair of combat boots swaggered through the carnage Kora's summoned monster left behind. He spat his cigarette and aimed a revolver pistol at the back of Kora's head.

"D-Damien…?"

"Fucking Guardians," Kora staggered back up and withdrew her chakram from the back of Zane's leg. The wolf-boy fully collapsed on the ground. She turned to face the gunman, "Always ruining my fun." Her weapon split back into its chain scythe form. She threw one of the scythes at Damien, who merely deflected it with a couple of bullets. Kora yelled like a baby with a tantrum and retracted her chain scythe. She disappeared in a furious frenzy.

"Hmph," Damien scowled as he put away his gun. "Just like the other one." He rushed to Zane's side. He picked him up and carried him over his shoulder.

"Ngh… Th-Thanks…"

"I don't know what I'm going to do with you, Zane."

Zane chuckled pitifully.

"Just hang on," Damien said. "The Light Guardian can't be far now."

"His name," Zane coughed, "Is Lucian."

"Yeah, yeah… Lucian."

"This is not good," Faith panted, her forehead covered with blood and sweat. She turned to Lucian who was hiding around a corner. "Are you okay?"

"Ugh," he winced at a couple of gashes. "I wish I could help."

"No," she yelled. "Get out of here! Stay safe!"

"And leave you here?" Lucian replied apprehensively, "No way! What about my powers?"

"I don't know! I just don't want you to die!"

"And what about you, huh?" He was stubborn, "Are you sure you can take this thing on your own?"

"For God's sake, Lucian, I don't know!" She shuddered when she heard Kaftar's cackling roar from across the grand lobby. "Crap!" The chain of a dozen faces all levitated in the air, their eyes wide open and their toothless smiles raging mad. They muttered intense gibberish, casting fatal spells. She yelled, deflecting the incantations with her rapier. "You've got to be kidding me!" She retorted with a trio of magic spears with green auras. The beast roared; a masque or two were successfully destroyed. The ring of visages exploded with ear-splitting laughter, summoning a maelstrom of wild magic spells. Faith took cover behind a wall opposite of Lucian.

"How are you holding out, Faith?"

"I could be better," she gasped and gulped. "Here," she tossed her rapier to Lucian. "Take this and cover me."

"Are you serious?" Lucian put the fire extinguisher on his back and scurried to Faith's rapier. "That's suicide!"

"I know it's crazy," she created an energy shield, "But come on!" She rushed into the squall of magic attacks with her it. Lucian closely followed behind.

The psychotic faces went around Faith's barrier to the boy. They called like sirens on ecstasy, "Lucian…"

"Shit!" he tried to fend them off with the rapier. Fortunately, the masks were easily sliced in half. He yelled, "What do you want from me?" But like a relentless army, another wave of insane faces returned. "Damn it!"

"Get down!" Faith twisted her waist and fired a barrage of energy javelins at the chained faces. Faith turned back and struck Kaftar with her energy barrier. The sheer force caused the shield to shatter. Faith snatched her rapier from Lucian and shredded through Kaftar's side. The ring of faces had a seizure and lifelessly fell to the ground. The monster howled in agony and retreated through a set of large double doors.

"Great," Faith panted. "Now that thing's pissed." She glanced at Lucian jabbing one of the faces with his fire extinguisher. "Are you coming?"

"Yeah," Lucian broke the chains with the extinguisher and hauled a mask as a shield. The two followed Kaftar through the double doors.

Lucian and Faith stepped into what was once an impressive theatre hall. Rubble, dust and debris were everywhere; complete ruination. With its feral snickering, Kaftar stood on what remained of the stage. The entire auditorium shook with one howl. Soon, a ton of unidentifiable bodies dropped from the ceiling, hanging from nooses and surrounded by barbed wire frames.

"What the fuck?" Startled, Lucian blasted one of the corpses with the fire extinguisher. Gargling over the foam, the body quivered and fell limp. The rest of the naked bodies opened their stitched mouths to moan Lucian's name and started spewing black magic.

"Damn it, Lucian!" Faith yelled. She easily killed off several distant cadavers with her magic, while Lucian suffocated the ones closer by. "Why do they keep saying your name?"

"Hell if I know!" The fire extinguisher ran out of foam, "God damn it." Lucian resorted to beating the corpses with the blunt end of the device. With another shredding laugh from Kaftar, the ceiling began to cave in. "Crap!"

Faith grabbed Lucian's wrist and dragged him to safety. "Stay here. And I mean it."

"But Faith," Lucian's protests were to no avail. Faith headed towards Kaftar by herself. Lucian bared his teeth and fought back a lump in his throat. His fist hit the wall.

The auburn-haired girl rushed to the laughing monster, blade in hand. Kaftar bestially attacked with its dagger claws, digging into Faith's side. She cried in agony while casting her healing magic. It was all in vain when the monster's tripartite bladed tail struck her across the chest.

"Faith!"

"Get out of here, Lucian!" Faith stumbled, clutching on to her bleeding chest. "God forbid you die here with me," she casted more healing spells. She tightened her grip on to the sword, dragged her feet further and landed a couple of daring slashes.

_"Why?" _

Kaftar shrieked its infuriating laughter as it casted its deathly magic. Faith's tortured screams rang in Lucian's ears.

_"Why is this happening to me?"_

The daunting voice returned to him, _"Are you willing to give up, Lucian?"_

Lucian's right fist exploded with the power of light. With a yell, he dashed across the theatre and pummeled Kaftar into the ground.

_"If you gave up, that'd certainly be a shame."_

Lucian panted, standing in an aurora of pure light, his green eyes burning.

_"Give up on yourself, and you would fail to stand tall… to stand beyond. You would surrender to the world… Surrender to the life's cruel deceptions… You would live forever in fear… And your love for those around you… would be for naught."_

Lucian held out his right hand. In another burst of light, the sword with the crystalline hilt from his nightmares materialized in his grasp.

_"__There is a distant light far off out of our reach, Lucian… We all have always wondered where it would be hidden... Sadly, no mortal being will ever know... __You yearn for the truth… That light… What we fear most… This day shall mark the beginning of a new chapter…" _

Kaftar split apart into two in a brilliant flash of light. Lucian simply annihilated the beast with another fell swoop. The hyena monster screeched as it slowly shattered into dust. Lucian stood silent in the middle of the devastation, his expression tense.

"L-Lucian…?" Faith struggled to get up after Kaftar's merciless and lethal attacks. "Are you okay?"

He turned around, "As long as you are!" He chuckled weakly and eventually collapsed to the ground; completely knocked out cold. His sword of light evaporated in a flash.

_"Seriously…?" _Faith gawked at him as she put her rapier away, _"Lucian, you're more than an idiot."_ After a moment of healing, Faith sighed and managed to pick up him up. _"God, you're heavy."_ She hauled him out of the catastrophic destruction.

Faith dragged her feet down the halls while carrying Lucian with her. The sound of echoing footsteps rang like drums in her ears. "H-Hello…?" She called, "Help… Please…"

A smoky voice mumbled, "Who is she?"

A camaraderie voice broke, "F-Faith…?"

"Oh no." Nearly breaking into tears, Faith hurried to a spiky-haired man holding her injured friend, "Zane!"

"Hey," Zane reached to her face and coughed, "Smile…"

The tall man whispered something in Zane's ear while Faith desperately tried to compose herself. Zane nodded at him. The man's deep purple eyes studied Faith and the boy she held desperately. "We need to leave," he said. "It's not safe around here anymore."

With that, the four disappeared.

The third Marauder looked over Somnium Academy with intent; the nightmare figure was savoring the chaos. His long silver hair flew in the wind; his green eyes were lavishing. However, his twisted grin was upturned when Kora and Roka appeared in his sights. The androgynous twins were massacred from their battles.

"Saku," they cried.

"Please spare us," Kora begged.

"Have mercy on us," Roka pleaded.

The third Marauder's green eyes turned absolutely livid. "What… happened?"

"Those two stupid Mystical Guardians!"

"They're always getting in the way!"

"They hurt our poor monsters!"

"They defeated us so easily!"

"Please don't kill us," the twins cried together.

"Enough!" Saku snapped and pinched the bridge of his nose. After hearing their frightened gasps, he continued, "Your left hands… now."

Kora and Roka's eyes widened at their punishment. They had no choice but to shove out their filthy hands.

"Oh, come now," Saku chuckled. "You two look like pathetic animals." He produced a dagger from his sleeve and hacked at their wrists. Kora and Roka stifled their screams. Tears rolled down their wretched cheeks. The twins gasped and sobbed as their stark blood spilled across the grass. It wasn't long before their hands fell to the ground. The twins clamored over them until Saku stepped on them, forcing the limbs deeper into the earth. "Now then," he said. "Burn down the school. They won't be coming back."

"Y-Yes, Saku," The two proceeded to cast fire spells.

The silver-haired boy watched Somnium Academy burn to the ground. He chuckled darkly and slowly walked away.

"_Do you remember me as well as I remember you, Lucian?"_


	5. Chapter 5

**CHILDREN OF THE SKY**

**CHAPTER 5**

The clouds that loomed over the earth darkened. The sun began its fall to slumber. The wind chaotically whirled about. The sound of the ocean shores can be heard in the distance. A lone flowering tree stood next to a grand ivory manor on a hill. A single pink-tipped petal detached itself from its firm roots and gracefully soared with the air currents.

The foyer that lied behind a mahogany door was impressive. Its smooth vanilla walls and sand-colored tiles glistened at the glow of the mystifying sunset. It was silent and serene, untouched by danger; a true sanctuary. Unfortunately, not all sanctuaries were kept safe forever. With a soft rush of wind, two pairs of feet touched the immaculate tiles. One was encased in scuffed leather, the other in simple canvas. A wolf boy battered and bloodied relaxed in the tall man's arms while a white haired boy was sleeping in the arms of a headstrong girl. Cigarette smoke slowly flowed throughout the room.

Faith broke the silence, "Lucian's house?"

Zane continued, "Why here?" He managed to climb down from the smoker's grasp, but stumbled. Shamefully, he held onto the man for support.

"Heh," Damien sneered. "Not what I had in mind, but it'll do. Come on, we don't have much time. We'll be able to rest here." He ventured into the house pondering, _"Did this Lucian kid guide us?"_ He glanced back at the boy, _"If so, he has some potential."_ Damien led the three up a couple of steps and through a rustic arch.

A welcoming living room complete with tan leather couches, a Venetian rug, a slender television screen, and a warm fireplace opened up in front of the visitors. This room seamlessly transitioned into a skillfully maintained kitchen in the adjacent area. A door that led to a study was on the opposite side. A staircase that led to the floors above stood at the corner nearby the entrance to the study. For a home for a meager teenage boy, it seemed rather regal and elegant. Zane gawked at the sights while Faith and Damien remained indifferent.

* * *

Two crystal thrones stood back to back in the void of the unconsciousness.

Lucian slouched in his gleaming chair, his emerald eyes fixed at the distance. His stark white suit was pristine and pure. The boy's eyelids batted and a grimace was formed, "Saku."

The other boy's jade eyes widened ever so slightly. His lips twitched. The Marauder's black suit clashed with the atmosphere. Soon, his diamond throne began to slowly diminish into carbon.

"J-Just," Lucian stammered. "Just what are you trying to tell me?"

"Hmph," the counterpart stood up from his black throne and began to swiftly stride away. "There's a storm coming, Lucian."

"Huh?" Lucian got up and turned to Saku. "What?"

"I suggest you begin to prepare for the future that lies ahead."

Noise from the outside world began to seep in. Lucian began to hear strange distorted voices, beckoning him, urging him. The void was collapsing. Lucian ran after the reverie figure, the ground falling apart behind him. "Hey! Wait!"

His doppelganger stopped in his tracks.

"Just what's going on? None of this is making any sense!" Lucian continued towards him. "Who are you and what do you want from me?!"

With a hint of a grin, Saku turned around and held his hand out to Lucian. The Marauder spoke one word, but he was drowned out when the voices from the abyss grew louder and hysterical. Lucian stumbled as he ran from the consuming darkness. Panting, he reached out his hand to Saku's. And with a flash, chains emerged from the abyss and wrapped around Lucian's limbs, ripping him away from the arcane Marauder and plunging him straight into the endless shadows.

* * *

Lucian woke up in the tan couch in his living room, petrified. He looked at his fingers twitching for something to hold on to in the empty air. He panted, realizing the line between fantasy and reality was blurring with each and every waking second. After a chilling moment, Lucian's pulse calmed. _"I'm home?"_ He slowly but surely sat up on the couch to take in his familiar surroundings. In the background, he could hear the faint hum of the TV.

Zane was lying on his stomach on the opposite couch, "Ngh… Kyaaah," His hands squeezed into the seat cushion. This was quickly becoming an episode.

Faith was struggling to heal the wolf boy. She grunted, "Hold still!" After many attempts, she managed to hold down his whipping injured tail. "Heh," she blew a stray lock of her hair out of her face. "Now, Zane, this'll sting, but you have to—"

"Gyaaah! No!" Zane's body quivered and squirmed.

"I didn't even do anything yet!"

"Huh? Really?"

"Baby."

"What'd you call me?!"

Faith laughed. Zane frowned and rolled his eyes. In the kitchen nearby, Damien sneered a little and snatched a towel from a drawer. He strode to the two and knelt by Zane. "Here," he said. "Bite on this."

"Thanks."

"Just be careful with his tail," Damien whispered to Faith's ear. "I've been told it's naturally a rather… erogenous zone."

Faith's eyes widened and she broke out laughing.

Zane's ears twitched, "What?!"

"Thanks for the heads up!"

"Hey!" He yelped at Damien, "Who told you?!"

"So it _is_ true," the healer assumed.

"Was it _Kyrie_?!" The smoker retorted with a cackle. Zane continued, "I swear once I see her again, she's going down! That was supposed to be kept a secr-aaaaaugh!" The pain was unbearable.

"Secret's out, wolf boy," Faith grinned.

"Grrrrrrr…" Zane's sharp teeth clenched into the fabric when Faith's healing magic continued, "Y-You guys are cruel…"

"By the way," Faith began to the tall man with her deep blue eyes imploring. "I didn't quite catch your name."

"Damien," he replied as he stood up. The girl began to memorize this name. The smoker continued, "Zane said your name's Faith. Is that right?"

The girl nodded and continued to heal. Damien eyed the white haired boy who had his interested piqued by the rivers of the emerald healing energy that escaped into the air. "So," Damien put out his cigarette. "Youmust be Lucian."

"Ngh," Zane winced. "Y-You're up!"

Lucian grimaced, refusing to make even the slightest eye contact to any of the Guardians.

Zane was relieved when the frustrated Faith finally finished healing his tail. When the healer was about to continue to the open gashes on the back of his calves, Zane's ears twitched. "Huh?" Something was odd about the low humming in the background. "The TV," he urged. "Turn it up!"

Lucian scrambled from the couch to the remote on the glass table and raised the volume. A business-clad man with overdone hair announced on the television, _"Due to the slow rise of Rogues and the recent appearance of a trio of Marauders at a local school, a mandatory evacuation of Somnium has been issued by Prima Vajras."_

Zane yelled, "What?!"

"Shit!" Damien snatched the remote from Lucian and flipped through channels.

"_What do you think about—? "_

"—_it's been hours since local firefighters and police and arrived on scene,"_ a woman's voice narrated, _"But there's still no sign of any Ma—"_

"_This just in,"_ the reporter from the next channel announced, _"The station had just received a short, but haunting video of the Marauder invasion of Somnium Academy. This was sent by one of the police officers investigating the disaster. It was recorded from a phone so the quality is bad. Please take your children away from the—"_ Damien clenched his free fist and skipped the channel again.

"_Do you think there are any survivors? These are kids we're talking abou—!"_

"_A troop of Saviors have been dispatched to Somnium by the Mystical Guardians."_

"Oh no," Zane panicked. "It's all over the news! Alexander's gonna have our heads!"

Damien switched the channel to another news station that had two reporters analyzing every second of the Prima's previously aired speech. The Prima, the man who led Aeternitas, was roughly at the age of seventy years. His silver hair was slicked back and his wrinkles told of his time. He also had a well kept beard. Behind his gray eyes was absolute fire. Aside from the immaculate suit he had on, the leader donned the traditional silk robes of the Prima. The color of his robes was iridescent, luminous, and divine. It seemed to have shattered light into its colors. A circlet crown made entirely out of crystal shards rested upon his noble head. The name of the Prima was Vajras. Behind Prima Vajras was his Celestial Order. The man to his left was a respectable middle aged man with wavy brown hair and a goatee. To the Prima's right was a younger sinuous man with long ice blue hair that parted in the middle and was kept in a ponytail.

Damien turned off the television without a second thought. He didn't feel the need to listen to the Prima's carefully constructed speech, let alone overanalyze it. He turned to Lucian, tossing the remote back on the table. He gritted his teeth, "I don't know what the hell you did, but it caught the Marauders' attention."

Lucian was purely petrified, "W-What?!"

Zane's was grateful when his calves were finally healed. He suggested, "Maybe it was when Lucian revealed himself as a Mystical Guardian!"

"Shut it, Zane." The tall man summoned a pistol and aimed it at Lucian's head.

"Whoa! Whoa! Whoa!" In a blur, Zane rushed over in front of Lucian, guarding him. The speed caught the white haired boy off guard and he stumbled and fell.

Damien didn't lower his weapon, "What do you know about the Marauders?!"

"Nothing, I swear!"

"Liar!"

Zane tried to calm the gunman down, "Don't do it, Damien."

Lucian continued, "What do the Marauders want with me?! I didn't do anything wrong! For God's sake, I'm just a kid! Please, listen to me, I'm begging you! I'm scared!"

Silence.

Damien's gun faded away.

Lucian panted, "Just… Just what the hell is going on here?"

"Don't worry, Lucian." Zane lent out his hand and gave his cherished reassuring smile, "You're safe with us."

"_You," _Lucian studied Zane along with Damien in the background. _"After all these years, how can I even come to trust you now, Zane? This is all your fault."_

He brushed Zane's hand away and got up on his own.

Zane flinched, his eye color flickering for a second.

"I suggest you guys start saying good-bye to Somnium," the tall smoker coughed. "Whenever the Marauders appear, their Rogues are bound to follow blindly and willingly. There's no way they can ignore ostentatious events such as the one that happened in your school. Zane, I'm anticipating an ambush – something bigger than the one in Central Square on that rainy night – so keep watch."

"R-Right," the wolf boy nodded and excused himself.

"Good thing that the Saviors have been dispatched, otherwise we'd be fucked. You two," he pointed at Lucian and Faith, "If you have any personal belongings here, pack them now."

"I don't even live here," Faith protested. "What about my home?"

"Don't worry about it."

"'Don't worry about it'? Are you crazy?"

"You will not leave this house and put yourself in danger yet again. Do you understand? You need to trust the Saviors." Faith ended her protest, flustered and annoyed. Damien's eyes stabbed into Lucian's, "And you. Things sure as hell aren't lining up, so don't you dare to think I've let you off the hook."

* * *

Outside in the cool night, Zane scaled the mansion with great balance and agility. His hands felt every groove between the painted bricks, the windowsills, and every nook and cranny that engraved the path. Zane climbed on top of the roof and settled on its edge where he can see the cloudy night sky and parts of the bustling ocean-side city beneath it. The evening wind tousled his hair. Somnium was in distress; the beginning of a new chapter.

* * *

"_This kid has some dark secrets, I just know it. The Marauders must know something about him that we don't. What is it?" _Damien thought to himself as he stepped outside in the backyard where the shores can be seen from a distance. His fingers anxiously ran through his hair. _"Oh God, that kid's scared half to death. Whatever the case may be, linked to the Marauders or not, this white-haired boy _is_ the Light Guardian." _He sighed and produced a scuffed cell phone from his pocket. He slid the screen up to enter a number. _"Come on, Kisura. Pick up."_

A smooth and sultry voice answered on the other end, "Hey, Damien."

"Kisura."

"That's my name, don't wear it out."

"Hmph, you never change."

Kisura chuckled, "Yeah, yeah. What's up?"

Damien commanded, "I'll need you and the rest of the Guardians to rendezvous with Zane and me at the shores of Somnium."

"Oh yeah," she said. "That's been all over the news, ain't it? What'd you two do over there?"

"Long story short, we found the Light Guardian and the Marauders got in the way."

"Ah, crap. How'd that happen?"

"Hell if I know. Listen, it won't be long before the Rogues infiltrate the city."

"Bastards."

"Just get here as soon as possible."

"I'm on it."

"And Kisura?"

"Yeah?"

"Don't worry about Titenia." Complete silence followed. Awkward, Damien asked, "Uh, Kisura?"

"Yeah, whatever," scorn oozed through the call. "I'll get the airship to you in an hour, give or take, so be prepared. Bye."

"Kisura, I—" The woman on the other end hung up on him. Damien sighed and stepped on his cigarette, "Great."

* * *

Lucian anxiously paced on his bedroom floor. He glanced at his messenger bag with its strap clinging on to his shoulder. To his surprise, the thing miraculously survived the chaos with him. He cleared it of thick notebooks and crumpled up papers that were given from the Academy. Lucian made sure he kept his laptop and other electronics secure in the messenger bag, figuring he would never know when he'd need to use it. His house keys were safe and sound as well, in case he'd want to return to his mansion if it ended up in one piece after the Rogue's impending attack. At last, Lucian picked up the cracked picture frame that preserved his family picture that was taken when he was quite a young boy. He stared into the enigmatic man in the background of the photo and sighed, _"Soon."_ He took the picture out of the dusty frame and slipped it into his pocket. He took one last look at his messy bedroom and walked away. Lucian was plucked raw from his typical everyday life.

And Lucian genuinely thought everything began to change when he first saw the mystifying wolf boy that destroyed whatever he knew of his best friend. With a mix of indignation and remorse, he made his way to the top of the house, "Zane."

The wolf child's ears twitched.

"Care to explain all this?"

Zane got up, "Lucian, I—"

"What do you want from me?"

"Huh?!"

"Just who exactly _are_ you?"

"Shut up," Zane shouted. "I'm Zane, okay? I've always been Zane since the day we met!"

"_Yeah, right._ Why are you even here, anyway? What's your objective? Tell me now!"

"I-I've been sent to Somnium with Damien to protect the city—"

"And look at what a _wonderful job_ you did! I'm _proud_, really. You two made this place into a—"

"I was also sent to personally look after the Light Guardian."

"You _what_?"

"Yeah."

"Wait… You _knew? You knew all along?"_

"Lucian, it's not that simple—"

"No. You're… _You're a liar._"

Zane's eyes were as wide as they could possibly be, "W-What?"

"Good God, _you've been lying to me since the day we met."_

"L-Lucian—"

"_You lied to me._ You lied to me about using magic. You lied to me about being a Guardian that's supposed to make the world a better place. You even lied to me about those ears and that stupid tail! You even said to me, 'Life, as we know it, is just deception.'" Lucian began to chuckle, _"__Our friendship is nothing but lies._"

"Now, you just wait a minute." Zane's eyes had been neither azure nor gold, but absolutely black. However in a blink of an eye, they turned back to gold. Lucian's chuckling stopped at an instant. Zane slowly panted, regaining composure, with his voice deep and straining. "Don't… you… even _dare_… think that _our friendship_ wasn't genuine."

"_Holy shit,"_ Lucian thought.

Zane continued, "We've… been friends… since as _long as I could remember_. _Everything I did… was to protect you. _Maybe I was loyal, maybe I was selfish, _I really don't know_. At first, I didn't even know you were the Light Guardian. There was a lot of talk between the other Guardians. I know you as the best friend I could ever ask for. Please, forgive me. I tried to hide everything away from you, because I didn't want you to worry. Everything is going to change, because you revealed yourself as the Light Guardian. Things will be okay in the end, I promise you that."

"How do you know for sure?"

"I don't," the wolf boy confessed to the white haired boy. "You just got to _believe._"

"'Believe', huh?" Lucian sat down on the edge of the roof. "Guess I'm going to have to accept that."

Zane's eyes changed from golden to bright blue as he sat next to Lucian, looking up at the cloudy night skies. While searching for the hidden moon, he felt a pair of green eyes curiously scan him. He glanced at Lucian, "Uh…?"

Lucian flicked his finger at one of Zane's lupine ears. It immediately folded against his head. They broke into laughter.

"So," Lucian said. "What's this Guardian thing?"

"The Mystical Guardians? Hmm… well, we're a band of people who excel in specializing in certain types of magic. Yeah, there are other spell casters, but _we're_ the best of the best—the top dogs—under the Celestial Order, that is. We practically control all the Saviors. Pretty cool, huh?"

"Yeah, but why me?"

"Huh?"

"Why am I a Mystical Guardian?"

"Beats me," Zane said. "I've been told that people aren't chosen to be a Guardian. They're just revealed and that's what your little freak out that happened yesterday was."

"Hmph," Lucian changed the subject. "How long were you a Guardian?"

"Three years, before I enrolled at Somnium Academy and met Faith and you. Compared to the others, I'm a total newbie."

"Really?"

"Yeah," he admitted. "There are others with ten, maybe twenty years of experience!"

"So," Lucian asked. "Which Guardian are you?"

Zane watched the moonlight shimmer between the dark rolling clouds, "I'm the Lunar Guardian. My powers are strictly tied to the moon. Its intensity waxes and wanes along with the lunar cycle—my powers are at its greatest during the full moon and at its weakest during the new moon. Get it? And from the looks of it…" He sighed, "But as long as that moon stays in the skies and orbits around the world, I should be fine."

"What about eclipses?"

"Lunar eclipses help me a lot, but I've never seen a solar eclipse. I've always wanted to see one of those! It'd be so cool, huh?"

"Yeah."

"Now I have a question for you," Zane grinned.

Lucian began to panic a little, _"About what?"_ He thought, _"Does he too think I'm part of those _bastards_ who butchered all those students?"_

"I'm curious…"

Lucian's eyes widened.

"Like, how _did_ you end up with this fancy house all to yourself?!"

"W-What…?"

"Yeah," Zane chuckled. "It's an awesome mansion right near the beach! Your parents must be rich!"

"R-Right," Lucian sighed and pulled out the picture from his pocket and began gazing into eyes made of faded ink.

"What's that, a family picture or something?"

"It's nothing."

"Doesn't look like nothing." Zane reached over to snatch the photo, "Let me see!"

"No," Lucian turned away.

"What's so important about that picture?"

"It's none of your business!"

"What are you hiding?" The wolf boy stood up, "Tell me what it is… now."

Lucian hastily got up, "I don't know who my real parents are, okay?"

Zane was taken aback, "Lucian, its okay. Not everyone knows who their real parents are."

"But I _have_ to know, Zane!" Lucian gave him the photo, "I _need _to know."

The wolf boy studied the photo, slightly grinning at the young Lucian. The white haired boy sulked when he began to make comparisons. Zane laughed and stared at the two adults in the picture, "So, if these two aren't your real parents, then who are they?"

"Probably close friends," Lucian speculated. "They were nice people. They gave me everything I ever needed. I understood we weren't related, but the love was genuine."

"What happened to them?"

"The war," Lucian sighed. "I haven't heard from them since. That's why I have this mansion all to myself now."

"Hmm," Zane looked at the photograph again to find the man with the wild, platinum blonde hair in the background. "Hey," He pointed it out. "What about this guy?"

"That man is possibly my only clue."

"A clue? For what?"

"That man, I'm guessing, is my real father."

"Hmm, he looks a little bit like you."

"Don't you get it, Zane? I never knew my real parents and this is my chance!"

"Yeah, but what if—" Zane froze in place. His nose, ears and tail twitched. His eyes switched from blue to gold at an instant.

"Zane," Lucian pressed, "What if… what?"

"Get inside."

He repeated, _"What if what?!"_

Zane barked, "I said get inside!" With a flash of golden light, he summoned his scythe and leapt off the roof.

Lucian called over the edge, "Zane!"

"Don't worry about me! Get Damien now! Go!" The wolf boy watched as Somnium was lit up in the night with the luster of armor and ominous gunfire and cast spells. Men clad in navy and black heroically clashed against the rogues incased in futuristic Maximilian armor. To the Saviors, Somnium was a warzone; the Rogues, a playground. The rustling of gauntlets, pauldrons and greaves echoed in the cold air as hundreds marched. The Rogues were closing in.

* * *

A Savior with slicked back cobalt blue hair and a truly garish scar that took up a third of his face ran up to the far end of a wall. His gray eyes peered over to find a quartet of Rogues gathering around a slew of Savior casualties. With a deep breath, the short and stocky Savior drew out a dagger and dashed into the open. With a flick of a wrist, one of the Rogues fell clutching on to his neck.

"Another Savior!? Fire!" Bullets soared through the air.

The Savior took to the ground, snatching an assault rifle and a corpse to use as a shield. Triggers were pulled and the ends of barrels exploded with fire. Another Rogue fell to his knees at the end of his life. The Savior's gun emptied, "Crap." He heaved the corpse shield at one of the Rogues and pulled out two more daggers. He dashed to the villains and brutally carved into their flesh and armor. The remaining Rogues in his path fell. "Hmph," he cracked his neck. "Hayato, get out here. The coast is clear."

"A-Are you sure…?" A timid younger man, with long golden hair and a duo of colorful feathers tied in its roots, peeked from around the corner. He bit his lower lip as his brown eyes anxiously darted about.

"Yeah," the cobalt-haired man scanned the bodies of his allies and enemies.

"Oh good," the younger Savior stepped out. Hayato was a tall and lanky lad with broad shoulders who wore a tattered cloak over his uniform. He slowly and carefully stepped over and around the corpses.

"Hey, catch." The older Savior tossed a machine gun.

"Ah!" Hayato fumbled with it, "How the heck do you work this thing?"

The man with the cobalt blue hair found a radio device on one of the dead Saviors. "Alpha Squad," he called into it. "This is Jay of Delta Squad. Our captain along with two other men is down." He paused, waiting for a reply, "Captain of Alpha Squad, do you hear me? Our captain is dead. Hayato and I are the only men in Delta Squad. " No response. "Shit."

"So, um, Jay? What do we do now?"

Jay put down the radio, "Stick together and try to survive." Frantic gunfire shredded through the air. Jay immediately took cover in the bodies. "Hey! Watch it!"

"Ah! Sorry!"

"Geez, Hayato," Jay got up. "You can be such a klutz sometimes."

Hayato retorted, "At least I know how to work this stupid thing!"

Jay muttered, "Nearly killed me in the process."

"So," the klutz ignored him. "Got any ideas?"

"Yeah," the older Savior brushed himself off. "We've been told that Mystical Guardians reside here in Somnium, right?"

"Right!"

"So the plan is," he said. "We go incognito until we find them. They're our ticket to surviving this hell hole. They can't be far."

Hayato questioned, "Incognito?"

"Yeah, you can fly while I can be invisible. We'll be out of contact with the Rogues. They won't know what hit 'em."

"Alright but how are we going to contact _each other?_"

Jay showed his unsightly scar in its entirety which was sure to unnerve the young Savior to no end. His lips bent into a rambunctious grin, "Just follow the carnage."

Hayato gulped and anxiously undid the tie on his cloak. The frayed veil slid to the ground, revealing Hayato's remarkable wings and tail feathers made of a vibrant yellow, a bold azure, and a soft scarlet, like an exotic bird. He stretched and flapped his wings in relief and relaxation, "Alright."

Jay nodded and his body vanished in an instant, but…

"Um, Jay…"

"What?"

"You're not invisible yet."

"What are you talking about?"

"I can still see your uniform."

"W-What!?"

"You disappeared, but your clothes haven't."

Jay cursed, "Oh, God damn it!" Hayato curiously watched as the Savior uniform hastily undid and whipped itself to the ground. "Hey!" The pants abruptly paused midway, exposing underwear, "Don't watch!"

"But you're—Ugh, never mind!" Hayato took to the skies.

"Stupid bird guy," Jay murmured as the last remainder of clothing had discarded itself. "Let's get down to business then." He scavenged around for a dagger hidden in his fallen clothing. Once he firmly grasped the handle, the weapon vanished completely. Stern, the invisible Jay ventured through the desolate alley and into the oncoming massacres.

* * *

"Show no mercy," an adorned Rogue yelled amidst the burning metropolis. Gunfire and screams echoed in the night. "Such blasphemous martyrs are not fit to inhabit this world!" Screams of terror ran through the streets like shrieking mice. Bodies of Saviors and Rogues alike fell to the gritty ground beneath their feet. Explosions were set off in the distance. Somnium, the peaceful and dreamy city by the seas, was reduced to a mere nightmare.

Another armored Rogue came to the commanding Rogue's side, panting. The commander inquired, "Any sign of the Light Guardian?"

"N-No, sir," the subordinate panted. "Not yet."

"What about the Marauder, Saku?"

"Not a trace, sir."

"Damn it."

"If I may ask, sir," the underling inquired. "Would you happen to know why the Marauders are interested in the Light Guardian?"

"In all honesty, I know nothing of the sort." The commander gulped, "But their orders are absolute. Continue searching."

"Yes, sir."

The Rogue commander looked into the blazing abyss, _"What are you thinking right now, Saku?"_

* * *

Hayato soared through the dark skies, barreling around a blitzkrieg of rapid bullets. _"Crap! Do they ever run out of ammo?!" _He landed on a rooftop with a roll and took aim with his assault rifle. With a wince, he squeezed the trigger and took out a couple of Rogues. "Ugh!" Bullets grazed his skin. Hayato ran to the corner of the building to take cover behind a gargoyle. _"Jay, where are you?" _

Spine-chilling cries carved into the night air. Hayato trembled at the sound and peeked from behind the statue to witness blood spewing out of the armored enemies. A single Rogue stood mortified at his fallen allies, baffled by their untimely ends.

The lone Rogue yelped, "Where are you!?"

One could hear the muffled sounds of a dog barking in distress, which in turn nearly gave Hayato a heart attack.

"Show yourself," the Rogue took his aim. But in the blink of an eye, he dropped to his knees for a blade was lodged in between his ribs.

The invisible assassin picked up a machine gun and inched closer, slowly revealing his exposed skin.

The Rogue was choking, "W-What the fuck…?"

"The Guardians," Jay said. "Where are they?"

"Put some fucking clothes on."

Jay scowled and shot the Rogue in one of his legs. "The Mystical Guardians; you know they're around here."

"Oh, really, what the fuck makes you think _I _know?"

Another bullet. "Where are they?"

"Alright, alright, I'll tell you," the Rogue surrendered easily. "There have been reports of your Guardians downtown near the waterfront. That's all I know. Please don't kill me."

With a glare, Jay knocked out the pathetic man with the end of his machine gun. "Hayato!" Nothing but the distant sound of the barking dog could be heard. _"God damn it,"_ he thought. All of a sudden, Jay's body shivered from the night breeze flowing from the seas to in between his knees. He looked around at the shining armor of the fallen Rogues and groaned, _"Great."_

Meanwhile, Hayato anxiously followed the sounds of yelping and whimpering. It grew louder amidst the roaring fires as he turned around the corner of an abandoned street, eventually guiding him to a house. He peeked inside, "Uh… H-Hello?" Inside, the hybrid saw the source of the cries—a Labrador retriever huddled in the corner of a dark room, terrified with nowhere to go. Hayato flinched at first, although upon further inspection, it did not seem to be hostile. He hesitated, _"I'm gonna have to save this thing, now am I?" _After a couple of minutes of failure, he busted down the front door with a thud. Hayato scooped up the hefty canine, noticing the tag around its neck that read, "MAX".

* * *

"Stay right beside me," Damien commanded as bullets flew through the air, "And be careful."

"Right," Zane nodded and gripped his scythe. For a moment, he looked back at the distant beach and gulped, reluctant of yet another battle. With a slow deep breath, he followed the Dark Guardian further into hell.

Carnage. Bullets and blades alike carved through flesh and bone. With every hack and slash, the wolf boy winced more and more. However, with every perfect shot, the smoker felt nothing – no remorse, no empathy. The devices of war were writing blood-stained poetry.

* * *

Lucian gazed out the window and into the abyss…

"_Do you remember me as well as I remember you, Lucian?"_

* * *

Zane panted, "They just keep coming, don't they?" He hacked at another set of Rogues.

"Don't stop now." Damien aimed and fired. On his periphery, he saw a duo of Saviors: a scarred man wearing nothing but Rogue armor from the waist down and a younger man with colorful wings struggling with a troublesome dog. Damien thought, _"What the hell…?"_ With a grunt, he yelled at them, "You two!"

"Finally," the bird-like boy said in exasperation when he and his comrade ran across the battlefield, "Mystical Guardians!"

Zane asked as he slashed at more Rogues, "You guys are Saviors?"

"Yeah," the scarred man said under his breath as he stabbed an enemy.

Damien commanded, "State your names."

"Hayato!"

"Jay."

"Hey." Zane curiously asked, "Why are you wearing parts of a Rogue uniform?"

Jay cut down another Rogue and uncomfortably replied, "Long story."

Hayato answered for him, "He can turn invisible, but whatever clothes he's wearing won't."

The smoker chuckled at the irony.

All of the sudden, a giant shadow shrouded the warzone.

"Huh?!" Zane looked up to see a futuristic exotic airship hovering near the buildings. A crimson-haired man holding a broadsword stood in one of the docking bays. "Alexander?!" With a spin of his sword, Alexander dived from the aircraft. The flames that were scorching the city theatrically reached up and engulfed the man. The inferno twisted and warped as he barreled into the ground, creating pillars of fire, wiping out the Rogues nearby.

Alexander slowly rose. He pressed a button on a wireless headset, "Kisura, head towards the shores as directed." His low voice was calm and soft, "We'll rendezvous with the Light Guardian."

"Roger that," the voice from the headset responded. And with that, the airship above majestically soared away.

Some of the Rogues cautiously approached, nervously muttering to each other…

"Is that…?"

"Oh shit…"

"It's the Master Guardian."

"No way…"

"Him? But he was only controlling fire."

"Rumor has it; he had to take over the position."

"Oh, so he's not the real deal, huh?"

The crimson-haired man held a fatally stern expression at the snickering Rogues. His glistening blue eyes were complete daggers, studying each and every one of his enemies. "Damien," he commanded with slightly more venom. "Depart for the Light Guardian."

"Right," Damien responded. "Come on, Zane." The tall smoker began to lead the wolf boy along with the Savior duo out of the hell zone.

"Don't let them get away!" Rogues scampered after the withdrawing Guardians, but in a flash, they met their fiery ends.

Damien looked back through the burning bodies, "What about you?"

"Don't worry about me," Alexander replied. "I'll arrive momentarily." Damien nodded and retreated. The calm, cool, and collected Fire Guardian—the Master Guardian—made sure the group made it safely out of his sight. With a sigh, he turned around to face the Rogues once more.

"'Arrive momentarily'," one of them mocked. "Pretty big words coming from scum like you."

Alexander sighed, "Please." He lifted his broadsword to rest on his shoulder. "No Rogue—or Marauder for that matter—will be able to even lay a finger on the Light Guardian."

"Don't be so cocky!"

The Fire Guardian smiled. "Why, I'm a man of my word!" The Rogues were silent and utterly unsettled. Alexander continued, "It doesn't matter if I'm the true Master Guardian or a mere, fiery substitute. It doesn't change a thing! It doesn't change that you demons deserve to be eradicated beyond all history. But enough of this chatting—I have a plane to catch." He extended his hand towards the Rogues and unleashed a spectacular firestorm. He brandished his sword and went forth into the inferno to take out any straggling survivors. His cobalt blue eyes glistened, _"A world where brothers and sisters are forced to eat each other…"_ The fires withdrew into orderly pillars and extinguished themselves. He stared at the charred remains of his enemies, _"Is not a world where I imagined our sons and daughters to live happily in."_ Alexander sighed and looked at the oncoming slew of persistent Rogues. _"Justice is tragic, but absolute. The Celestial Order… The Prima… What's on their minds right now?" _With a grimace, the Master Guardian retreated. The Rogues madly and fervently chased after him like wild animals. "Shit!" Alexander's hands ignited and he whipped balls of fire at breakneck speeds as he ran.

* * *

With a swift wave of darkness, Damien knocked the front door of Lucian's mansion off its hinges. "Come on!"

Lucian stood in a trance at the rustic arch at the end of the foyer. His wide eyes watched as Damien and Zane entered and climbed the steps, followed by two Saviors—an immensely scarred one and a winged one desperately clutching on to a dog. "What's," he said in a daze. "What's going on?"

Zane replied, "We're leaving Somnium, Lucian."

Lucian briskly followed, "What's going to happen now?"

"I'm not sure."

"We must get the Light Guardian to safety and protect him at all costs," Damien recited his objective. "Hopefully, he'll be able to go through the induction trials."

"Induction trials?"

"Every Mystical Guardian must go through them," Zane quickly explained.

"Wait a minute," the colorful winged Savior with his hands full interrupted, "The Light Guardian?!"

"Why would the Light Guardian gather so much attention from the Marauders?" The scarred Savior inquired, "Other Mystical Guardians revealed themselves in the past, but you didn't see them getting all wound up over it. What makes this one so special?"

"I don't know," Damien muttered.

The dog barked and leapt out of Hayato's arms. "Hey," Hayato called after him. "Max!" The golden retriever scurried to the living room to find Faith sitting in one of the couches.

"Max!" Faith's hands caressed the golden retriever's flaxen fur, "I was getting worried about you, boy." Max replied with a euphoric bark.

"Uh…" Hayato spoke with hesitation, "Is… Is he your dog?"

"Yeah," Faith stood up and extended her hand. "Thank you so much for finding him out there."

Hayato withdrew with his wings wrapping around him. He whispered with such anxiety, "Uh… y-you're… welcome…" After an awkward silence, Hayato slowly extended his hand to Faith's and faintly shook it. Faith beamed. Hayato hid his blush well underneath his colorful wings.

"Hi!" The sound of Zane's vivacious voice made Hayato jump.

"Zane," Faith hugged him. "I'm glad you're okay!"

He chuckled, "Aw, it's nothing."

Hayato's eyes slightly narrowed. He scanned the happy-go-lucky wolf boy.

"Hey!" Damien brutally interrupted in desperation, "We have to go now!" He quickly led the group from the mansion to the nearby shores. Boots and sneakers trampled over the fine, white sand. The airship the Master Guardian came from soared overhead and landed on the shoreline, disturbing the serene water and sand.

In the docking bay, a girl with lavender hair called out, "Come on!"

The Savior whose face was scarred beyond relief dashed into the airship without a second thought. The bird-like young Savior flew in without a moment of hesitation. The headstrong auburn-haired girl calmly stepped on to the airship with her dog. The wolf boy exchanged glances with the lavender-haired girl and smirked. The tall spiky-haired man simply walked on the ship and withdrew a cigarette.

But it was the white-haired boy who looked back at his hometown, _"Somnium is in hell… and it's all… because of me."_

"Hey, kid!"

"Huh?" Lucian turned around and looked closely at the girl with her lavender hair. Her striking golden eyes pierced through the shadows. Her hair was tied up into a side ponytail with some trinkets. She casually wore a simple ensemble of yoga pants and a sports bra. However, she, like Zane, wasn't completely human – she naturally has cat ears and a tail.

"What's wrong?" The purple-haired cat girl asked him, "Is everything okay?"

"It's…" Lucian sighed and got in the airship, "It's nothing."

"Hey," the cat girl playfully punched him on the arm. "Don't worry. Things will be okay in the end. Just you wait."

"Thanks…" Lucian followed Faith and the duo of Saviors, while Damien and Zane stayed with the cat girl in the docking bay as the airship slowly took flight into the dark skies.

The girl asked, "What about Alex?"

Damien smiled, "He'll make it."

* * *

The Master Guardian watched as the airship soared through the skies above and couldn't help but chuckle. _"My work here is finished."_ With a snap of his fingers, fire encircled around him in a spectacular fashion and sent him catapulting up into the air. Fire magnificently spiraled beneath him. The Rogues stopped in their tracks, awe-struck. Alexander spread his arms out, creating dozens of fireballs in which he hurled at the Rogues below. The flames below him skewed and turned towards the airship and with a great leap, the Master Guardian entered the airship.

"You have a penchant for theatrics, don't you?"

"Well of course, Damien." Alexander grinned and snapped his fingers, instantly extinguishing all the fires he created. He stood up and brushed himself off, "Now come, there are many things I wish to talk to you about!"

Damien followed Alexander, leaving Zane and the purple-haired cat girl alone in the moonlight.

"So, um… hehe…" Zane awkwardly spoke. "I, uh… I missed you."

The cat girl's alluring golden eyes bore into the wolf boy's innocent azure ones. She smiled and leaned in closer and closer to him, "Zane…"

He gravitated towards her, eyes widened and face blushed, "Y-Yes?"

The girl impishly pulled away and walked off in a split second, leaving Zane in the dust. "Shouldn't you be howling at the moon?"

The wolf boy stood at the docking bay for a few moments, stunned. He smiled and chuckled to himself, _"You never change… Kyrie."_


End file.
